Release
by SSghost
Summary: Jude devises a plan to get not only herself out of Briarcliff, but others who do not belong there with the help of her old friend the Monsignor.
1. Chapter 1

Jude sat in the lounge looking around at the other patients. She was having an easier time remembering names now and was beginning to feel like her old self. The only difference was she would never be Sister Judy Martin again. No, they took that away from her. First, Dr. Arden and Mary Eunice framed her for the death of Frank and then they murdered Mr. Goodman when he was able to discover the truth that Arden was actually Dr. Hans Gruper. Finally, the Monsignor stripped her of her clerical duties and had her institutionalized at Briarcliff. The last fact hurt her worse than the first one. She trusted Timothy, thought that he was going to _save_ her, and thought they were going somewhere together. After all she loved him and would do anything for him. She still felt that if she could get him alone, she could convince him that she was innocent of the crimes that committed her. She just couldn't have Dr. Arden or Mary Eunice around. Off in the corner sat Lana Winters alone.

Jude approached and sat in the chair opposite of where Lana was sitting.

"Do you have any cigarettes?" Jude asked Lana. Without saying a word Lana tossed a pack of cigarettes over to Jude that landed in her lap. Jude knew that Lana had good and bad days, just like everyone else, but what was different was that she was responsible for Lana incarceration. Jude removed one of the cigarettes; asked one of the orderly's to light her smoke, and took a long drag.

"So, Lana Banana, what is the first thing you're going to do when you get out?" asked Jude.

Lana slowly turned her head towards Jude, staring at her for a moment. "When I get out? When am I getting out? Thanks to you, I am stuck in here, with you! Isn't that ironic?"

Jude took another long drag on her cigarette and exhaled. "I told you before; I am going to get you out of here. I know you don't belong, Kit doesn't belong, and there are probably others that don't belong. I have a plan an idea. I just need to put it into action" remarked Jude

"So, what is your plan? Are you just going to plot some daring escape so that we are constantly on the run or are you going to hand over the keys to the front doors?" asked Lana.

"My plan involves your release, signed, sealed and delivered, and I know who I am going to go to, to get it" replied Jude.

"Oh yeah, and who is it that is going to get to sign my release, Dr. Arden?" asked Lana

"No, someone who is above Dr. Arden, someone who has the authority to release anyone he chooses" answered Jude.

Lana just looked at Jude. "The only other person who can sign for my release is the Monsignor. Do you plan on just walking up to him and say, excuse me Timothy but can you just sign your name here on the dotted line?" Lana said with a sarcastic look on her face.


	2. Chapter 2

"I need to see the Monsignor" Jude said to Carl.

"He's a busy man, what do you need Jude?"

"Just tell him I need to speak to him."

Carl walked away from Jude to deliver her message to Monsignor Timothy Howard.

In the meantime, Jude was careful to keep the pills she had in her nightgown pocket from being discovered. It wasn't easy, pretending to swallow them in front of the staff when the medications were being distributed, but she felt she had enough to accomplish and put her plan into motion. She wandered over to the jukebox looking over the songs that were listed. _If I had a hammer _belted out of the speakers_. _All she needed now was opportunity.

"Jude, you wanted to see me?' She instantly recognized that voice even though her back was facing its owner.

"Monsignor, yes, thank you. I have been thinking and I know how much you've enjoyed my cooking. There isn't a lot for us to do here, while I recuperate, I was hoping to put my culinary skills to some good use. Perhaps I could prepare a meal for us, just for old time sake?"

Timothy just looked at her for a moment. "Jude, perhaps it would be best if you just continued with your treatment. Rest and therapy is the best and you have time baking bread in the pantry."

"That is true Monsignor, but what I really miss is preparing a special meal, especially your favorite, pot roast and those potatoes you really like. I have been in such a mood for it lately that I can't stop thinking about it. Oh please Monsignor, just one time, it would make me feel whole again."

"Well, it has been awhile since I've had the enjoyment of one of your meals and if you think it will make you feel stronger, than I think something might be arranged. I would think you will need some help with all the tasks at hand?'

"Help? I never needed help before?'

"Well, preparing a meal for several people takes a lot of work Jude. You can't possibly feed the entire staff here without some sort of assistance."

"Oh, the meal I was planning was going to be on a much smaller scale. I was just hoping it would be the two of us, a quiet evening. Once the meal is over, you can go on your way and I will go back into my room."

"Jude, I don't know, I don't think that is a good idea. It wouldn't be appropriate for us to dine alone now that you're a patient here."

"Oh Timothy, your not concerned that I would harm you? We have been friends for a long time now. Come on, what could possibly happen here with all the guards around? "

After thinking about it for a brief moment, Timothy figured what could be the harm? There is no where for her to go and she has been a model patient.

"Alright Jude, this Thursday at 7:00 we can have our dinner."

"I…I was hoping Friday would work for you?"

"Jude, I really don't understand what difference the day makes to you? It's not like you are going out anywhere?"

"I...I know, its just Friday's were always my favorite day of the week to cook"

"Alright, Friday it is, but it will have to be at 6:00 then as I have other places I will need to visit that evening."

Timothy turned away from her and exited the room. She watched him walk out, all the time thinking if all goes as planned, he won't be going anywhere else that night.

Finally Friday evening arrived and the scent that filled the room was delightful. Jude was an excellent cook and the aroma of the roast and potatoes baking were even making her own mouth water. She was able to sneak off into her old office and look behind the bureau all the way in the back. Yes, it was still there, a bottle of Cognac that she hid. She couldn't believe it was never discovered. She placed the bottle under her robe and went into the bathroom. After she closed and locked the door, she carefully opened the bottle. She was so tempted to take a drink, just a little taste, but no, she had to keep her wits about her and use this liquor for other purposes. Lifting a small square piece of foil from her pocket, she unwrapped it and poured the powdery contents into the bottle. She could see the white particles slowly drifting down through the liquor, just hoping that they would completely dissolve. She replaced the lid on the bottle and managed to get it back into the kitchen. She was surprised that no one was checking up on her, they allowed her this much freedom. She figured maybe the Monsignor told them to leave her be for the day?

It was 7:20 and she was anxiously waiting for the Monsignor to arrive. He usually was very punctual and she became a bit worried that he wasn't going to show up. Finally she could hear footsteps coming down the hall and there he was, in the flesh, Timothy Howard looking as handsome as ever. She hated the fact that he looked so good to her.

"Good evening Monsignor! I was hoping you didn't forget about our dinner?"

"Oh no Jude, I actually have to admit I have been looking forward to this all week. I haven't had a good home cooked meal in a long time. I am sorry for being a bit late but sometimes business gets in the way."

Jude looked down and could see in his left hand he had a bottle of red wine. He could tell by her expression that she wasn't expecting this.

"I thought I would bring the wine for our meal. I guess I wasn't thinking that perhaps you can't really drink wine considering…"

"It's ok, just because I can't doesn't mean you can't. In fact, I wanted it to be a surprise but I remembered that I have a bottle of Cognac that I had stored away in my office."

She pointed to the bottle sitting on the table.

"Where was that at?"

"I can't tell you that", she said with a sly smile. "I can't give away all my secrets but I will tell you that this is the last bottle around that I know of."

Timothy looked at the bottle for a moment and she could tell he was not pleased that she was so easily able to hide alcohol from everyone. The damage was done and the aroma of the meal made his stomach growl. He made a mental note to have her former office searched again Monday morning.

He sat down at the table while Jude fixed a plate for him. He couldn't wait to taste the food, it smelled and looked so good. Of course, once he took his first bite he was not disappointed. She joined him at the table, quietly eating off her own plate.

"Would you care for a drink Monsignor?"


	3. Chapter 3

"Why not, with good food, good company, why not a good drink?"

Jude poured Timothy a glass of the Cognac and placed it by his plate.

"I would like to propose a toast" Jude said. "To friendships!"

Timothy looked up at Jude, thinking that was a bit odd to toast to. After all they weren't as close as they once were and he knew deep down that he was partly responsible for her removal from the church.

Jude watched as Timothy took a few sips from his glass. She was watching his expression, to see if he showed any sign that the taste was off but if it was, he wasn't showing it. He continued on with his dinner and the conversation between the two flowed throughout the meal. Jude forgot how easily he was to talk to and he forgot how much he enjoyed discussing things with her. When his glass was more than half empty, Jude went ahead and refilled it. Finally they finished their meal and Jude got up to clear the table. Timothy started to get up too, to help clear the dishes but Jude told him she had everything under control, he was her guest for the evening, and to just relax and enjoy the brandy. Timothy helped himself to another glass and leaned back in his chair. He was surprised to notice how relaxed he was feeling and figured this would be his last glass for the evening. After all, he had other stops to make and drive back to the rectory.

Jude came back into the room. "Would you care to sit over here by the fire, it might be more comfortable?" She also tried to refill his glass, but he placed his hand over the top of it so she couldn't.

"No more drink for me. I still have some visits to make this evening." He got up from the table and as soon as he stood up, his body felt heavy. He shook his head thinking he just needed to get a grip and not come off as such a lightweight. He couldn't believe the little he drank could be having such an effect on him. He wandered over to one of the chairs across from Jude and was having a difficult time waking straight. By the time he reached the chair, he ended up plopping down in it with his body going limp. He knew he shouldn't be acting this way but he felt extremely relaxed.

"Are you alright Monsignor?' Jude asked

Timothy was losing all inhibitions and smiled up at Jude. "I am fine, never felt better! The meal was wonderful, your wonderful, this chair is wonderful, I am fine."

"Well, I am glad you are comfortable and enjoyed my cooking. Would you mind if I got a little more comfortable myself?' Jude asked.

"No, I don't mind."

Jude got up and went into the bathroom. Timothy sat there wondering what she meant about getting more comfortable. Her wardrobe consisted of the institutionalized nightgowns and robes. While thinking of becoming more comfortable he absently removed his collar from his shirt along with his shoes. After all, why shouldn't he get more comfortable too?

Jude emerged out of the bathroom and she was still wearing the same nightgown and slippers.

'Are you more comfortable now Jude?' he said with a grin on his face.

Jude leaned forward towards him letting her nightgown, which had the first 3 buttons undone, fall away from her chest. Timothy had a clear view of her breasts. He found himself staring at her cleavage, he couldn't help it. He also started to feel warmness spread throughout his body and arousal in his crotch area. Jude took notice of where his focus was on and moved closer towards him.

"So Timothy, may I ask you a personal question? Do you ever wish you could marry, have children, or wonder what it would be like to be in a relationship with a woman?"

He thought about how best to answer her question and while thinking about it, the thought of being with a woman at the moment sounded very appealing to him. He was undeniably horny.

"Of course I have thought about it, what it would be like but as you are well aware of, I gave my body to Christ" he said. It was then that he notices Jude was lightly tracing her finger over the back of his hand so lightly it tickled. Jude got up from her chair and kneeled down in front of Timothy, making sure he had a clear view of her breasts.

Her fingers were now slowly gliding up the sleeve of his jacket.

"Aren't you warm? Here why don't we take off your jacket now that you're by the fire?"

Timothy could only slightly move forward while she helped him removed his jacket. He slumped back into his chair. His arms were resting in his lap, trying to conceal his excitement but Jude already noticed the swelling. After all, before she became a nun she had pleased plenty of men and she knew all too well the side effects of the medication she gave him.

She continued her light massage up his arm as he wore a short sleeved shirt. He kept thinking he should stop this but something inside of him wouldn't let him get up and go, it was so soothing and sensual. Jude returned to kneeling down in front of him, resting her hands on his knees. She slowly started to lightly run her hands up from his knees up to his mid thighs and back down again, all the while circling closer and closer to his crotch area. Timothy's excitement grew. He couldn't help but wonder and wish that she would touch him.

Jude knew she had him right where she wanted him. The posture of his body showed he was extremely relaxed and judging by the bulge in his pants she knew he was very turned on.

Timothy leaned his head back and closed his eyes. He no longer cared about anything, just wanted her touch to continue. He knew as a priest, this was not proper but at that moment nothing else mattered to him but to let this pleasurable massage continue. And then it happened, he felt her warm hand resting against his manhood.


	4. Chapter 4

All was still as he could hear the birds outside chirping. Little steams of light were starting to shine through the blinds. Timothy opened his eyes and did not recognize where he was at first. He lied there for a moment, trying to recall the events of the previous night when he felt a weight on his right arm. He turned his head to see what was weighing his arm down and was stunned at what he saw. There was Jude, sleeping, facing him, with her head on his arm, and her right arm was lying across his waist. Startled, he lifted his head off the pillow and looked down. He and Jude were covered by the same sheet and to make matters worse, he was not wearing any clothes. He tried his best to remember the night before, how did this happen, what did they do? His heart was beating so fast he was surprised that Jude didn't wake up from it as her head was not lying far from his chest.

He had to get out of there, right away and sort this out. He tried to gently slide his arm out from under Jude's head to not wake her. She started to stir and that made him move quicker to get up from of the bed. Where were his clothes? They must be in one of the other rooms? Looking back at Jude she still appeared to be sleeping so he quietly got up from the bed, praying she wouldn't wake up until he was dressed and out of the room.

He did not find it at all amusing when he heard a whistle coming from the person he left lying in the bed. Even though he wasn't looking back at her, he could tell she did that with a smile on her face. Ignoring her he proceeded to go into the room where they had dinner the night before, looking around for his things. They were no where to be found. Extremely frustrated at this point he had no choice but to go back into the bedroom and ask her where his clothing was.

Walking back into the bedroom with his hands cupping his private area, he found Jude still lying on her side but her head was now propped up by her hand, eyes open.

"Jude, where are my things?"

"Right where you left them, don't you remember?"

"If I remembered or knew where they were, I wouldn't be asking you. I am not in the mood for games Jude, where are they?'

He tried his best to recollect the events from the previous night. He remembered having dinner and sitting by the fire but he couldn't recall much after that, just that, and to his horror, that he was extremely sexually aroused and relaxed.

"Did you look under the sheet?" she asked with a smirk on her face.

"Very funny! I am getting angry Jude! You better tell me where my clothes are right now!"

"Or what? Maybe one of the orderly's know where they are or one of the nuns assigned here, maybe they seen them around? You can borrow one of my habits but I don't think they will fit you. Oh that's right, you gave all my things away. I'll tell you what. You do something for me and I will do something for you?"

"What are you talking about? What is it that you want?" I can't get you back into the church."

"I'm not asking you to get me back into the church but there is something else I need you to do otherwise, I might have to start screaming for help. Imagine how that would look Timothy, if the guards came in here, you standing there fully nude, and I am a confused patient, in this bed?"

Realizing his options were limited, he asked," What is it that you need me to do?"

"There are some papers over on the table where we had our dinner last night. They require your signature at the bottom. Sign them and maybe we can locate your clothes."

Timothy walked back out into the other room, over to the dinner table. Lying next to the papers were his glasses. After briefly looking the papers over he turned back towards Jude, who now had the sheet wrapped around her and joined him in the room.

"You can't possibly expect me to sign this! I have a responsibility to the community and the church. I can't just let patients walk out of here."

"You are fulfilling your responsibility to your church and the community. The patient names on those papers are not a threat to society. They are innocent and do not belong in here. Just sign them Timothy and do what is right."

Timothy reviewed his situation, realizing he needed to get out of there before he was discovered in this embarrassing position. How could he explain this to anyone and he could be forced out of the church for this. He couldn't let that happen, the church was everything to him.

"Give me my clothes first and then we can discuss this"

"Oh no, no deal! Listen, it won't be long till I am noticed that I am not in my room and once that has been discovered, they are going to be looking all around this place, inside and out, for me."

Reluctantly, Timothy looked at Jude and swallowed his pride. "Do you have a pen?'

Jude tossed a pen over to Timothy and for a second he forgot about his nudeness, where he removed one of his hands that were hiding his privates to catch the pen. Jude just smiled.

After catching the pen, Timothy put on his glasses, pulled out one of the chairs, and sat down to read over the papers. He never noticed when Jude walked up behind him.

"I expected to see your name on these but I don't. Just Kit Walker and Lana Winters. Did you forget something?" he said out loud in the room.

"Nope, as much as I want to get out of here, I need to make sure that those two are released first as they are innocent. It is my fault that Lana is in here, she never belonged and Kit was falsely accused. It's called repent Timothy."

Again Timothy found himself startled as he didn't realize how close she was standing behind him. Jude couldn't help but stare at him, with such a serious look on his face as he was looking through the paperwork. There he was in her old room, wearing nothing but his glasses. He had a slender figure yet his chest and biceps were defined. Finally he took the pen in his right hand and placed his signature on each document.

"There, now wear are my clothes?"

"Right this way and thank you Timothy, especially for last night." Jude said with a smile.

"What does that mean, last night? Nothing happened between us, I can tell." Timothy said nervously as he followed Jude back into the bedroom.

Jude just looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Nothing huh?"

"I know for a fact that I would not do anything sexual in nature. I take my vows seriously unlike some other clergy members."

"If you re referring to me, well thanks to you I am no longer a member of the clergy!"

She couldn't help it, she told herself she wouldn't become emotional around him but it hurt so much that he had her excommunicated. He never believed her as she was supposed to be his right hand. She turned her back to him, not wanting him to see how upset she was. After all, up until that moment she was in total control of the situation. She then felt his hand on her shoulders, was he trying to comfort her? She was not going to have any of it! Turning around again to face him the very moment struck her funny. Here she was, with only a sheet around her in a room with the Monsignor wearing nothing but his glasses. She couldn't help but chuckle out loud which seemed to anger Timothy even more. She wondered what the staff would have thought if they could see them now?

"I am glad you find this so funny. Listen I held my part of the bargain, now it is time for you to hold yours. Where are my clothes? He was practically shouting at her.


	5. Chapter 5

Jude stood there, staring at Timothy. She couldn't remember ever seeing him this mad before. In fact, she rarely ever saw him mad or upset; he was always so soft spoken and composed. She thought to herself how sweet revenge can be. He didn't seem to be upset when she was being committed to Briarcliff or relieved of her duties. Only now that things weren't going his way, he wasn't in charge of the situation, did he seem troubled. Realizing at some point they were either going to be discovered together or she had to let him go she was weighing her options.

"It isn't fun now is it, to not be in control of a situation. To be held against your will and no matter how much you shout or plead, no one listens. You're just as helpless and a prisoner here, like most of the patients at Briarcliff." Jude said with a stern face.

"The difference between the patients here, including you Jude, and me, is that I can walk out the front door. You can't! I am still a member of the church and your not! You obviously aren't getting any better Jude, look at what you've done to me. What was it that you gave me last night?" questioned Timothy.

"Just a taste of your own or should I say our medicine Timothy. It isn't enjoyable being medicated to the point where you have no control is it? Yes, you are still a priest, for now, but I would think that if the Archdiocese knew what went on between us last night, that would change real fast."

"Nothing went on between us last night! I know it didn't! I would never do something like that, especially with you Jude. You are a disappointment, to think at one time I thought you and I would make our way to Rome together, what was I thinking? You're a mad woman and now you're a disgrace." Timothy was shouting now.

Those words he used at her normally would make her cry but this time she felt nothing but anger. The nerve of him, it's always was about him! She felt such rage towards him that she lunged forward, arms flying, hitting him wherever her fists could land. He could do nothing but try to protect himself from her assault. He quickly tried to grab her by her shoulders to get her to stop hitting him but in doing so he grabbed the sheet that was covering her body instead. When she tried to pull away from his grasp, the sheet ripped away from her body, falling into pieces. Now not only was he standing completely nude but so was she. Embarrassed she tried to cover herself up with her arms, but she wasn't doing a good job of it. The both just stood there, looking at each other in shock when the realization of their situation appeared to both of them that they started to laugh. This was not what Jude planned for and Timothy could not believe he was stuck in a room naked with an unclothed woman. No one would ever believe them if they ever tried to tell anyone about this.

They both looked up at the door when they heard voices and footsteps down the hall coming closer. Timothy's first thought was to yell for them to let him out but how could he explain why he and Jude were nude together in a room? Would they believe him? Jude on the other hand knew that if they were discovered, she would end up in solitary and she did not want that.

She grabbed Timothy's arm and pulled him to follow her lead as she opened up one of the closet doors and pulled him in with her. She quickly shut the door, just when the outside door to the room was being opened by two orderlies. The staff members entered the room and looked around.

"Someone's been in here. What's this?" asked one of the orderly's when he picked up one of the remnants of the former sheet from the floor. He also noticed the papers that were lying on the kitchen table.

"Now that Sister Jude is a patient here, sometimes the Monsignor works in here at night. Maybe he was here working last night? We better leave things alone. The guy should clean up after himself though" said the other orderly. Jude recognized the voice that of Carl's.

The other orderly wasn't so sure and started looking around the room. He went into the bedroom, noticing that the bed looked slept in. Leaving that room he observed the bottle of unopened wine sitting in the kitchenette. Figuring whoever left the wine also left the room, and he didn't want a bottle of good wine to go to waste. He grabbed two glasses, sat down, and tried to open the bottle.

"What are you doing?" asked Carl

"Having some wine, once I get it open. Do you know where a wine bottle opener is?"

Meanwhile, Jude held the inside closet door tight, incase one of the men tried to open it. She was praying that Timothy would keep quiet. She could feel him, standing behind her, wondering what he was thinking. Realizing that Jude did not want to be caught in this embarrassing predicament either, Timothy thought he would try to make things more uncomfortable for her. He lightly placed his hand against her ribs to tickle her and she reacted by immediately bending forward, where her buttocks bumped hard against his groin. Based on the grunt she heard, it was safe to assume she hurt him but she could only turn part ways towards him as they were in such tight quarters.

Whispering lightly towards him she said, "I'm sorry, I hope I didn't hurt you? I know that is a sensitive area but what did you think would happen by tickling me?" With that, she reached down and cupped his testicles, holding firmly. Timothy knew he was in trouble. She was holding his most sensitive part and the small space they were in did not provide him the ability to back away. He was terrified of what she might do. He remained motionless, too scared to move. Once again she was in control of the situation. How did he keep allowing this to happen?

"Please Jude, don't! Let go!" he cried quietly in her ear.

She could tell he was very nervous. Figuring she was going to play this for all it was worth, she whispered back into his ear, "Like I said, I'm sorry for hurting you, let me make it up to you." With that she released his testicles but firmly grabbed his penis instead and started to stroke him. A smile came to her lips when she felt him react.

Timothy was in complete shock as no woman has ever touched him there before. The whole situation seemed so unreal to him. What started as a nice dinner ended up with him waking up next to Jude, totally naked with no recollection of what happened the rest of the night to now being stuck inside a small closet with a nude mad woman. What a nightmare!

He grabbed a hold of her arm, to get her to stop her motion but that made her squeeze him harder.

"Stop Jude, let me go! You have no right to touch me, I'm a priest and I took a vow!" he murmured.

It was at that moment that the unknown orderly came back into the room where the closet they were in was. He was looking around the room, opening drawers. Jude still kept her one hand on the door and her other hand still had a hold of Timothy. Her movements did not stop and to Timothy's horror, they were starting to feel very good and once again he was aroused. His body was betraying him as he started to lightly thrust his hips forward, aiding her manipulation of him. He couldn't help himself as he knew he needed to remain completely quiet as they were not alone in the room.

"I found one!" they heard Carl yell out from the other room. The orderly that was in the room with them quickly left and Jude let out a sigh of relief. The stress of everything was taking its toll on both of them. Jude felt Timothy's head now resting against the back of hers, breathing hard, and he still had the hold of her arm, except now he seemed to be aiding her stroking movements. Recognizing the signs that he was nearing an orgasm she quickened the pace of her hand. Fearing he might make too much noise, she moved her head forward, away from where he was resting his head, and turned her face up to him to plant her mouth over his. He didn't pull away as he was too lost in the sensation of probably his first orgasm ever. They remained this way, in the kiss until Jude heard a sigh from him and his thrusting's were slowing down.

When Timothy was able to regain his senses he was mortified. Looking around the closet to see what he could use to clean himself up with, he noticed in the back corner, under the shelf of washcloths were a pile of neatly folded clothes. Finally he found his and Jude's clothing.

"Come on Carl, we better get back downstairs to the gym. That crazy blonde nun is setting up a dodge ball game for the patients and I know she will be looking for us to monitor it." The two finally left the room allowing both Jude and Timothy to exit the closet.


	6. Chapter 6

The two dressed in silence. Jude made sure to grab and secure the signed release forms off the table, before Timothy could do anything to them. He left the room without saying a word or looking back at her. She knew he was extremely upset with her and wasn't sure what, if anything, he might do. It didn't really matter at that moment, what was done and she accomplished round 1 of her plan. After all what more could he do to her? He probably was more worried about their time together than she needed to be. As she worked her way down the staircase, she saw Mother Superior Claudia.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting Reverend Mother. Please see that these forms go to the appropriate personal." Jude said as she handed the documents over to her.

Mother Claudia briefly looked over the signed papers and shook her head.

"Jude, I don't know how you pulled this off but I will start the proceedings today." With that she walked away from Jude and exited the building.

Jude watched her leave the building with a smile of satisfaction on her face.

"Jude! Where have you been? We've been looking all around for you?" questioned Sister Mary Eunice.

Jude choose not to answer her as no matter what excuse she came up with, she knew she was going to be facing some kind of punishment from this nun.

"Don't feel like talking do we? That's ok, maybe some time in the hydrotherapy room will help. Carl, take Jude down to the hydrotherapy room now!"

With that Carl led Jude by one of her arms downstairs. Jude knew she just needed to hang in there a little bit longer.

It had been 4 days since Jude handed the release forms to Mother Claudia yet, Kit and Lana were still in Briarcliff. Jude was starting to worry that something must have gone wrong. Did the Monsignor somehow stop their release? Jude wanted to contact Mother Claudia, to see if she knew what the hold up was but she didn't have any way to get a hold of her. Things were becoming worse for Jude too. She was often the target of Sister Mary Eunice and knew it was a matter of time till Dr. Arden was going to insist on one of his "treatments" for her. There was little she could do to protect herself but she at least wanted to watch Lana and Kit walk out of Briarcliff.

It was a stormy afternoon. The winds were howling and the rain was falling sideways. When storms such as this came through, it usually meant things were going to be rough at Briarcliff. Some of the patients did not take well to storms and it set them off. The thunder was loud and the rooms lit up with the lightening. It was this stormy day when Jude was finally approached by two orderlies in the common room.

"Now come on Judith, Dr. Arden needs to see you. Just come quietly and all will be alright" said one of the orderlies.

"No! Please don't take me there, I am feeling fine and don't need to see the doctor!" she said in a shaky voice.

The two guards took Jude by her arms, feet dragging and kicking, through the hallway, down another flight of stairs, and into the electrotherapy room. The lifted her up, laid her on the bed, and started to strap her arms and legs down, all the while she kept pleading with them to let her go. When they had her secured, they left the room and in walked in Dr. Arden along with Sister Mary Eunice.

"Please don't do this! Somebody please help me! You're making a mistake!" Jude screamed.

Dr. Arden just ignored her and applied the gel to Jude's temples.

"Sister, are you fine with assisting me in Jude's treatment?" asked Dr. Arden looking down at Jude but talking to Sister Mary Eunice.

"I am more than fine assisting doctor, and I wouldn't miss this for the world" smirked Sister Mary Eunice.

Dr. Arden put a rubber mouthpiece in Jude's mouth and then placed the electrodes over the gel on her temples. Jude kept praying to God, that somehow she could get out of this. As much as she didn't want to give these two the satisfaction, she could not stop the tears from falling down her checks. Hoping that Mother Claudia or the Monsignor would show up and stop this but the likelihood of them showing up now was nil and she knew Timothy was probably still angry with her and Mother Claudia was no where to be found. She heard the clicking of the machine being turned on and knew it was a matter of time till the electricity was sent coursing through her brain. She braced herself for the onslaught of shock and when it started, she arched her back and started convulsing. Although the electricity was only on for a few seconds the power had been turned up to 80% capacity and then at that very moment, a bolt of lightening hit a transformer. A spark flew out of the back of the electroshock therapy machine and then it went dead. All the lights went out for a few seconds and then the emergency generators kicked on. Luckily for Jude, the electroshock machine was not connected to the generator. Although the lights came back on, they weren't at full power, which made the room they were in appear dim.

"Well Sister Mary Eunice, I don't think we will be able to give Jude her treatment today as our machine shortened out." Looking down at Jude he placed both his hands on the sides of her face. "Don't think we are finished here for one second Judith Martin. We will complete your therapy tomorrow morning."

Jude was unable to respond. The few seconds of electricity coursing through her brain caused her to have a terrible headache and she was unable to reason with what was going on. Dr. Arden yelled for the orderly to come and take Jude back to the common room.

Jude was escorted up to the common room and put on the sofa, where she could only lay her head back and stare blankly up at the ceiling. Both Lana and Kit carefully approached her. Lana sat down besides Jude and Kit sat in a chair across from her.

"Jude, it's me Lana. Do you remember me? Do you remember your name, where you are?" asked Lana

Jude's eyes moved to look at Lana's face but her stare was blank. There were obvious burn marks on the sides of Jude's face.

"They must have really turned up the juice on her" remarked Kit.

The doors to the common room opened and in walked in the Monsignor along with the orderly Carl.

"Kit Walker and Lana Winters! Come here please" shouted Carl.

Both Lana and Kit slowly got up and gingerly walked towards Carl and the Monsignor fearing they were in trouble for something.

"We need you to sign here." Carl said as he handed a pen to Kit

"What are we signing for?" asked Kit

"You both are being released. You are free to go" answered Carl.

"Is this for real?" asked Kit, this time looking at the Monsignor.

"Yes Mr. Walker. You and Ms. Winters are free to go and leave the facility" answered the Monsignor.

"What about Sister Jude?" inquired Lana

"Sister Jude is no concern of yours. She is still a patient here at Briarcliff and will continue to receive medical care until she is better" said the Monsignor.

"Medical care? You call this care? Look at her, she is practically catatonic" replied Lana

Timothy looked over at the lifeless form of Jude, barely sitting up, on the couch. He slowly walked over to her, looking down, staring at her for a moment.

"Carl, please see that these two are escorted out of the building"

How are we to get out of here, we do not have a car or money?" asked Kit.

Timothy reached into his pocket and withdrew some money out of a money clip, handing Kit some cash. "Carl will call you a cab." Even though both Kit and Lana had their release that they waited so long for, they were hesitant to leave Jude behind, especially in the condition she was in. She could not defend herself.

"Thank you Father, for the money but I cannot accept this" Kit said handing the cash back to the Monsignor. "In fact, I don't feel right leaving Sister Jude here and like this."

"I'll see to it that Jude is cared for" the Monsignor said never taking his eyes off of Jude.

With that Carl took Kit by his arm and led him to the stairwell up to the front doors. Lana followed, knowing there wasn't anything more she could do for Jude, at least while she was incarcerated in Briarcliff.


	7. Chapter 7

Jude woke up in her room. She still had a headache but it was mild compared to what it felt like before. She felt weak, hungry, and very thirsty. She raised her hand to her forehead and felt pain when her fingers brushed against her burn marks. She sat up and once her bout of dizziness went away she swung her feet over to the side of the bed, down to the floor and tried to stand up.

"Awake at last"

Jude looked up to see Timothy standing there leaning on one side of the doorway with his hands in his pockets. His face showed no expression.

"Monsignor, what brings you by?" Jude said in her weakened state.

"You've been out of it for a couple days Jude. I've been waiting for you to come around so we could talk."

"Talk? Talk about what?"

"Dr. Arden said you have been argumentive and agitated lately and he felt he had to treat you with electroshock therapy to relieve you of your anxieties. You also have been exhibiting odd behaviors."

What are you talking about? I haven't given anyone a hard time around here and I am not anxious about anything and what odd behaviors are you referring to?" questioned Jude

"Sister Mary Eunice backed Dr. Arden's findings" replied Timothy. Also, don't tell me you forgot about our tryst the other night and think your actions were appropriate?"

Jude couldn't help but smile when he brought up their night together as they never spoke about it but her smile quickly faded when other memories started coming back. She remembered being taken by force to Dr. Arden's lab. As her memories were flooding back to her, she placed her hand over her mouth and her eyes widened with fear.

"Timothy! They will be coming back for me!" Jude said as she slowly backed into the corner of her room. Once she reached the walls, she slide down to the floor, with a horrified expression on her face. "Please don't let them take me! Timothy, you've got to help me!"

Timothy wasn't sure how to react. He never seen Jude like this, she was absolutely terrified. She was trembling. The Jude he knew was strong and not afraid of anything or anyone. At first he had felt some satisfaction that Jude was being held against her will, as he was that night, but seeing her in this state was a bit disturbing. He went over to her, kneeled down, and placed his arms around her.

"Jude, its okay, it is all over now. No one is coming to get you" he said as he tried to get her on her feet and back into bed. He eventually had to lift her up and carry her over to the bed where he carefully laid her down. She had a death grip on him and he had to pry her hands off of him.

"Don't leave me, don't leave me alone! They're coming back to hurt me, they told me."

"No one is coming for you Jude. Everything is going to be alright. Carl! We need a sedative in here!' yelled the Monsignor. Carl came in with a shot of valium and Timothy held Jude's right arm down while Carl injected the medication into her. Jude fought with everything she had as the last thing she needed was to be sedated.

"No! Don't sedate me, I need to be awake, they are coming back for me. I have to get out of here!" Both Carl and Timothy held Jude down until the medication started to take affect. Slowly her resistance faded and she relaxed, laying her head back onto the pillow and her body went limp.

Timothy pulled a chair up next to her bed and sat down. "Carl, I think we will be alright now, you can go." Timothy said as he leaned over Jude, brushing her hair back from her face with his hand.

"Please don't leave me Timothy. Please stay with me. You've got to protect me from them." Jude said as her eye lids became heavy.

"Shh Jude, you need to rest. You're safe now." Timothy took hold of one of Jude's hands even though she appeared to be resting comfortably now. His original intent upon his visit of her was to berate her for what she did to him. He was going to threaten her with legal action and see that she never got out of Briarcliff but that was the furthest thing from his mind right now. Either she was extremely paranoid or abused. This woman was terrified and she didn't need anymore threats.

A couple hours later, Jude woke up again. Her headache was gone but she was very groggy. As her eyes were adjusting to the contents of her room, she noticed a figure sitting in a chair next to her bed. Her vision came into focus and to her surprise, it was Timothy sitting there. His head was leaning back in the chair, mouth open, eyes closed. Was he asleep or just resting? What was he doing there? She slowly rose up from the bed, looking over at him, waiting for him to react but he didn't. It was now obvious to her that he had fallen asleep. Somehow she found humor that for the second time in a month they technically slept together. She took a folded blanket off her bed and lightly placed it over him. Still feeling sleepy she laid back down and in a matter of minutes she was fast asleep again. The sound of doors opening and shouting out in the hallway woke Jude up. Timothy was gone from her room and she wondered if she dreamt that he was even there.

"Come on Judith, time to get up and eat your breakfast" instructed a nun she never saw before as she carried a tray over to Jude.

After Jude finished her meal she walked up to the common room. She entered the room looking around for Lana and Kit but did not see either one of them. She did notice Pepper at the game table and walked over to sit down next to her.

"Pepper, have you seen Lana or Kit around?" asked Jude

"No Boss, they have been released, they're gone." Pepper replied

"Gone? Really, they have been released?" questioned Jude

"Yes, a couple days ago, you were here. Don't you remember? The Monsignor had them discharged." Pepper informed Jude

Jude sat down in a chair, briefly closed her eyes, and smiled. She looked over at the window. The sun was shinning through. It worked, her plan actually worked! Although she was happy and relieved that the both of them were free, she couldn't help but feel a bit sad for herself as she was now left behind. Yes she still had Pepper but she wasn't sure Pepper fully understood what was really going on in Briarcliff. Her contentment was cut short when Carl and another orderly came into the room calling her name out.

"Come on Jude, Doctor Arden is waiting for you. Time to finish your treatment" yelled Carl.

Jude's heart sank. She knew she could not handle another episode of shock therapy. Looking around the room there was no one there that could help her. This time there was no fight in her, she just followed the men downstairs to the electro therapy room. What was there left to fight for? Kit and Lana were free. She lost her position at Briarcliff and at the church. She had no one she could talk to; no one was going to be visiting her. She felt truly alone.

Sitting on top of the table, looking down she waited until Dr. Arden came into the room. She heard the door open and close, then footsteps coming closer to her. She didn't look up as she couldn't stand to see the smirk on the doctor's face, knowing he defeated her.

"Glad to see your in a more cooperative mood today Jude. Lie down shall we" said Dr. Arden.

Even though the fight had gone out of her, they still had her strapped down to the table.

"Open wide" he said as the doctor appeared above her with the rubber mouthpiece and inserted it in her mouth.

Hearing the dials turning and the machine warming up she closed her eyes. The door to the room opened and closed again. Jude assumed it was Sister Mary Eunice who came to assist the doctor.

"Ah, Monsignor! Nice of you to join us! It is about time you were able to witness the benefits of my work." Dr Arden said.

Jude's eyes opened when she heard the click of the dials being turned and the machine's motor winding down till it fell silent.

"Is there a problem Monsignor?" asked Dr. Arden.

"No Doctor, no problem at all. There will not be any electrotherapy administered to this patient today or anytime in the future. I fail to see the benefits of it" replied Timothy.

"No offense Monsignor, but I hardly think you are qualified to make that determination. Do you have any medical training or background?" question Dr. Arden.

"I don't need medical training to see that this treatment is not helping this patient one bit and doing more damage than good" Timothy said as he was undoing the straps that held Jude down on the table.

"Are you sure you want to challenge my work here Monsignor? As I told you once before, there are many things that happen here in Briarcliff which you might not want to question or expose. I thought we agreed that I was to continue my research and you were to go about your business" challenged Dr. Arden

Jude could feel the tension in the room thicken. She also wondered what was going on here between the two of them and what was Timothy's part? Never-the-less she hopped up off the table and exited the room. She knew she needed to follow up with Timothy about this and decided to wait for him up in her former office and to question him. On her way up the stairs she ran into her other nemesis, Sister Mary Eunice.

"Going somewhere Jude? You keep forgetting that you're not in charge here anymore and that office is off limits to you." Sister Mary said with a smirk on her face.

"The Monsignor is to meet me up there as it is his office now. He is in a meeting with Dr Arden and will be right up." With that, she kept on climbing the steps till she got into the office and quickly closed the door. Jude heard footsteps from the hallway coming closer and assumed it would be Mary Eunice challenging her again but instead it was the Monsignor.

"Somehow I thought I would find you here" said Timothy. "We need to have a chat."

"Yes we do. You need to tell me what is going on around here between you and Dr. Arden" Jude responded.


	8. Chapter 8

"You are in no position to come in here making demands Jude! My business with Dr. Arden is my business. I think we should instead discuss your actions, some of which were highly illegal and enough to keep you here for the rest of your days." Timothy replied.

"Are you sure you want to go there Timothy? Sure, we can talk about what I did but your no saint either! Remember one thing, I am not a nun anymore but you still wear the cloth. You are held to a higher standard and will have more to answer for." replied Jude.

Timothy looked at her for a second and then turned his back to her, walking towards the window looking outside as it started to rain. He never was good at confrontations.

"I understand that you do not approve of the way things are run here at Briarcliff but I do not think too many of our patients do, and you are a patient here" Timothy said while turning back to face her with a smirk.

"What is going on here between you and Doctor Arden? What has he been up to?" asked Jude

"I told you before Jude you need to stop this witch hunt against Dr. Arden! He is not the reason you are here!" Timothy was yelling now.

"He is entirely the reason! He made me lose all credibility with you. He turned you against me!" Jude walked up to Timothy, who was looking down towards the floor, and softly said, "I was your right arm Timothy! We were going to Rome together" with a teary voice.

Timothy looked up at her face and could see the hurt in her eyes. As angry as he was with her, he knew deep down that he had made a deal with the devil and Jude paid for it. She had aged, lost weight, and the stress took its toll on her appearance.

"Why was it so important to you that Kit and Lana be released from here and not you?" Timothy asked Jude.

"Because just like me, they were put in here because somebody else wanted them out of their way" said Jude. Jude placed her hand on the side of Timothy's face. "You know I don't belong in here, even after what I did to you."

Timothy could not look her in the eye. He lowered his eyes down towards the floor again. Sensing his vulnerability, she moved closer to him and placed her arms around him, pulling him into an embrace. She was expecting him to immediately pull back but instead he placed his arms around her waist and held her tight.

"I am sorry Jude. I did mean what I said, that I wanted to rise in the Church and take you along with me. I tried to protect you, but you just wouldn't stop. If only you took that job in Pittsburgh, none of this would have happened."

She never forgot that day, when he told her she was being transferred and how she felt when he turned his back on her and walked out of the room. She loved this man and would do anything for him. She had hoped that deep down he loved her, although she knew they could not have any kind of physical relationship. He was devoted and married to the Church.

Jude continued to hold onto Timothy all the while thinking what he meant that he tried to protect her. Protect her from what or whom? She was trying to protect him and Briarcliff when she suspected Arden of being a former Nazi.

"What were you protecting me from? Was it because of Doctor Arden's you tried to send me away?" asked Jude.

Timothy moved away from Jude's hold and thought about her question for a moment while walking towards the window again. She was in Briarcliff because she was convicted of murdering Frank. Arden did see her as a threat. He told Timothy that. She kept stating that she was framed for this murder. Did Arden have anything to do with Frank's death or did he frame Jude for it, to get her out of his way?

"Doctor Arden strongly believes in his work. He feels he is on to something big. He is a man of science and when you started with those ugly false allegations against him, being a former Nazi, I was concerned for you so I thought it was best to send you away, to be safe" Timothy said still looking outside the window with his back to Jude.

"Send me away to be safe yet you allowed me to be locked in here with him!" He was a Nazi Timothy. I had proof but it all disappeared" said Jude.

"I didn't allow anything Jude. You were convicted and sentenced to be in here by a magistrate" replied Timothy.

"I told you I was set up! I would never murder anyone, especially Frank as he was my friend. Arden wanted me out of the way because I was onto him. I still can't believe that the police never found any evidence as it was there, I know it was" Jude insisted.

One of the things Timothy regretted most was tipping Arden off. After Jude told him of the proof she had that Arden was a Nazi member, Timothy called Arden and told him to make sure he _cleaned house_. After all, he couldn't let Arden be arrested and talk to the authorities as he would have revealed some of the things that went on at Briarcliff. Timothy still had his vision, his goal. All of his hard work was not going to be for nothing. Everyone had skeletons in their closet.

"Jude, if you didn't murder Frank, who did?" asked Timothy.

"I am not sure who killed him. I think it might have been Lee Emerson?"

"How would he have the means to do so? Frank's throat was slit. How would Emerson get a hold of a weapon?" questioned Timothy. With that, he walked over to the filling cabinet and started to finger through the records. He finally pulled out a file, sat down at the desk, and started going through the contents. In the description of Frank's death it was noted that his throat had been cut with a razor. Judging by the angle of the cut, the perpetrator had to have been right handed. Timothy opened up one of the drawers in the desk and found a box of pens.

"Jude" he called out and quickly threw a pen at her. She instinctively raised her hand and caught the pen, looking at him with an expression of surprise on her face. Timothy just smiled. "Nice reflexes."

Just then Sister Mary Eunice walked into the room. "Is everything alright in here Monsignor?" she asked.

"Yes Sister, all is fine. Jude and I were just discussing her course of treatment."

"Really! Well that is fresh, asking a murderer what they think their best course of treatment is?" Sister Mary said with a sarcastic smile.

"Sister you speak out of turn. Is there something you wanted?" asked Timothy

"Wanted, no, just checking in. You both have been in here for a while and I wanted to make sure you were not in any harm Monsignor. After all, we know what Jude is capable of don't we? I'll take that!" Mary Eunice said as she grabbed the pen out of Jude's hand.

"You got to watch this one very closely Monsignor. We've found some objects in her room that don't belong there" grinned Mary Eunice.

"Objects? What kind of objects?" Timothy asked

"Well, there was a rather large cucumber, some carrot sticks, a hairbrush…"Mary Eunice answered

"Very funny" yelled Jude

"Alright enough! Is there anything else you wanted Sister Eunice?" asked Timothy

"I'll leave you two alone but perhaps I should leave the door open? I don't want her taking advantage of you Monsignor. After all, I heard her calling your name out once or twice during the night…"

With that, Timothy flew up out of his chair towards Mary Eunice, grabbing one of her arms and escorted her towards the door.

"I think it is time you and I had a talk Sister Eunice. I will meet with you later. You need to remember your place around here" said Timothy as he led her out the door.

"Yes Monsignor, lets meet and have a talk, just you and I, alone" said Mary Eunice as she walked out the door all the while looking at Jude. Timothy closed the door behind her and locked it.

"I've recently become one of her targets" remarked Jude.

"Jude, can you vouch for your whereabouts during the time of Frank's demise?"

"I think I can! That night I was escorted out of Briarcliff. I had left the building. Sister Eunice had me removed"

"I don't want you talking to anyone about what we've talked about here today. And don't think that we won't be discussing what you've done to me that night. You will have to answer for that!" Timothy said looking sternly at Jude.

With that he accompanied Jude down the steps and into the common room. He turned and left without saying another word to Jude but she didn't need to hear anything further from him. He was looking into Frank's murder and she knew he would find out the truth and set her free.


	9. Chapter 9

"Judy Judy Judy,…what is going on with you and the Monsignor?" taunted Sister Eunice.

"I don't know what you are talking about. There is nothing going on" Jude replied.

"Oh there is something going on alright, all the time you two have spent together, alone up there in that office. It isn't all talking now is it?" asked Mary Eunice.

"What else would we be doing?" said Jude

"Oh, I don't know, but it's obvious to all of us that you fancy him and might be trying to tempt him into doing something that will get him into a lot of trouble" remarked Mary Eunice.

Jude felt it best to just ignore Mary Eunice and not let her taunt her. She had been feeling fatigued lately and figured that all the stress over her situation was catching up with her. She did not have the energy to tangle with this demonic nun today. Things weren't getting any easier for Jude either as Sister Mary Eunice dished out extra chores to Jude just because she could. She kept hoping that if the Monsignor was working on proving she was innocent of Frank's death, he would be able to do it soon. She wasn't optimistic that she would be spared electro shock therapy the next time she was brought down to Dr. Arden's lab. It was hard to keep track of time while in Briarcliff too as she didn't have a calendar in her room. She used the old chalk on the wall system to mark down the days. It has been 24 days since she last saw and spoke with Timothy. What was taking so long? Usually she would hear his voice or catch glimpses of him when he was visiting, even if he didn't stop by to see her. She entered the common room, sat down on the sofa to take a break, and ended up dozing off.

"Boss, time to get up" said Pepper. Pepper was shaking Jude till she finally woke up.

"What time is it? I must have dozed off" replied Jude.

"Its 4:30, almost time for dinner. You've been sleeping for a couple hours" spoke Pepper.

"Dinner?" Jude could not believe she fell asleep that long. She worried that perhaps she was coming down with something as she really didn't have much of an appetite either.

She recently found that she couldn't wait till bed time as she was exhausted by the end of the day. Were they putting something in her food or changed her medication? Whatever it was, she wasn't going to let it break her as she was going to fight through it.

One day, while Jude was on her knees scrubbing the bathroom floor, she heard the door to the bathroom open and heard footsteps coming closer to her. Looking up she saw Mother Claudia staring down at her smiling.

"Jude, have you heard the good news?" asked Mother Claudia.

Jude got up from her kneeling position and looked at Mother Claudia. She was perspiring profusely and wiped her sweaty hair off her forehead. "It is nice to see you Mother Claudia and what news are you referring to?" asked Jude as she stood up.

"The Monsignor was able have the magistrate review your case and there appears to be enough reasonable doubt to reopen the investigation!" replied Mother Claudia.

Jude just stared at Mother Claudia. She was afraid to move, fearing this was a dream, that she would wake up and none of what was just said to her would be true.

"What changed that made them review the case?" asked Jude.

"The Corner was able to determine that the person responsible for Frank's death was right handed. You Jude are left handed. Also, there was testimony from some character witnesses and you have an alibi for the time of Frank's death.

Jude just gazed at Mother Claudia. The room started to spin, she felt hot, and that was the last thing Jude remembered, she has fainted.

Jude woke up in the infirmary. Her throat felt dry and she was a bit nauseous. A nun was making her rounds and Jude waited till she was close enough to grab her attention.

"Sister, may I please have some water?" asked Jude.

The nun poured water into a glass, stuck a straw in the cup, and handed it to Jude. Jude was so thirsty she quickly gulped the water down. Afterwards, she laid her head back on the pillow as her head hurt. She still felt tired and hungry.

"Jude, you have a visitor!" yelled the nun who gave Jude the water.

Jude opened her eyes to see Lana Winters walking towards her.

"Hello, how are you Jude? It's been awhile" said Lana

"Lana! Oh it is good to see you too" Jude said wincing in pain and placing her one hand against the back of her head. She could feel a bump that was sore to touch but still managed to sit up.

"I heard you passed out and when you fell, you hit your head. They told me you are going to be alright?" answered Lana.

"Passed out? I don't remember. I have not been feeling well lately." Jude leaned into Lana and whispered, "I think they are poisoning me here".

"Why do you think that? What would be the reason?" asked Lana.

"It seems I have become a target of Dr. Arden and Sister Mary Eunice. They keep trying to make things difficult for me. They tried electro shock therapy on me but luckily the Monsignor stopped them. Lana, I need to get out of here!" whispered Jude.

Lana smiled down at Jude and put her hand on Jude's shoulder. "You are close to getting out of here. They reopened the case of Frank's murder. You just need to hang in there a bit longer Jude" said Lana.

"You know about my case being reopened? He will get me out, I know he will" smiled Jude

"He?" asked Lana.

"The Monsignor. He is the reason they reopened my case. He brought forth new evidence" reassured Jude.

"Yes, that is true, that he asked questions which made them look at the case again but I wouldn't totally trust him" answered Lana.

Jude looked at Lana with a bewildering look. "What do you mean, why wouldn't I trust him?"

"Jude you need to rest now. It's not important right now and you will find out everything soon enough. Just concentrate on getting your strength back so you can walk out of here" answered Lana.

Jude reached out and grabbed Lana's arm. "I need to know what you meant. Why shouldn't I trust the Monsignor?"

Lana starred at Jude for a second. "Apparently he was more aware of what was going on around here and he never reported any of it."

"How do you know this?" asked Jude.

"I was one of the character witnesses at a hearing so I was able to listen to testimony. Try not to worry about it right now Jude. You need to focus on getting well and let the pieces fall where they may" replied Lana.

Jude couldn't believe what she was hearing. First she fainted and wasn't sure exactly why. She knew there was something between Timothy and Dr. Arden but she never thought there was much to it. Then she remembered Arden saying that he and the Monsignor had a "gentleman's agreement." She heard the door to the infirmary open and could make out Mother Superior walking towards her.

"I've got to go now Jude but I will be back. You take care and I will see you again soon" Lana said with her arm still on Jude's shoulder. She knew Jude was puzzled by what she told her but she figured everything will be cleared up eventually. She quietly walked away.

"Jude, I need a moment to speak to you" said Mother Claudia

Jude looked up at Mother Claudia's face.

"What is wrong my child?" Mother Claudia could see by Jude's expression that she was upset.

"Lana just told me she heard some testimony regarding my case? What was Timothy's involvement here?" asked Jude.

"Jude it is all just hearsay for now. Yes they are looking into things but let's use our strength for getting better shall we? I have something else I need to discuss with you."

Jude wasn't sure she could handle anymore news but was also intrigued by what Claudia had to discuss with her.

"Jude, as you know, you were brought here into the infirmary because you fainted. Have you fainted in the past or been experiencing other symptoms?" asked Mother Claudia.

"I have been feeling extremely tired lately but I haven't passed out before. What is going on?" asked Jude.

"When they brought you in here, they took blood samples from you Jude. They shared the results of these tests with me since you do not have any other family members here."

"What did they find?" Jude was almost too scared to ask.

"Jude your blood levels are showing high levels of HCG" replied Mother Claudia

"What does that mean?" asked Jude.

"HCG is a hormone that the body produces when someone is pregnant"

"Pregnant! Are you saying I am pregnant?" Jude asked with her hand over her mouth.

"That is what the blood test results are saying. Jude, you weren't raped in here were you?" Mother Superior asked gingerly.

"No! I mean I was out of it for a couple days after they shocked my brain but no one forced themselves on me" replied Jude. Jude wasn't sure what, if anything, she should say to Claudia. She trusted her but if she told her everything, especially about that night with the Monsignor, Jude would be in trouble and that is the last thing she needed. After all, they were reviewing the case against her and she had a chance to get out. She couldn't lose that.

"Jude, who is the father?" asked Mother Claudia

Jude just looked at Mother Claudia, not sure how to answer her.

"Reverend Mother, you cannot say a word about this to anyone! It is more important now that I get out of here, before anyone finds out about my condition" whispered Jude.

"Jude I don't understand. What is going on around here? You're with child, who did this to you?" asked Mother Claudia.

"You just need to trust and help me. I was told a long time ago that I could not have children. If I am truly pregnant, than this is a miracle. I've always wanted a child" Jude said as tears started to run down her cheeks.

"I will speak to the Monsignor and see…"

"No!" Jude cut Mother Claudia off. "You cannot say a word about this to the Monsignor. He cannot know of my condition!" pleaded Jude.

"Alright Jude, I will not mention it to anyone but if it comes down to you and the baby's health, than that will be different." With that Mother Claudia turned and left the infirmary.

Jude lay back down against her pillow, placing her one hand on her abdomen. She still could not believe that she was pregnant. How long had she wanted to have a child? She knew she was going to do everything she could to have this baby and keep it healthy. Concealing her pregnancy and getting out of Briarcliff was priority. If Dr. Arden found out or Mary Eunice.., God knows what they would do to her? Most of all, Timothy could not know. This would not go over well with him at all! Then she remembered something else that Mother Claudia recently told her. She had an alibi during the time of Frank's death. What alibi?


	10. Chapter 10

Dr. Arden was down in his office, watering his plants when Sister Mary Eunice walked in.

"Hello Arthur, what have you been up to lately?" asked Mary Eunice as she fingered a leaf on one of the plants.

"Ah Sister Mary Eunice! What brings you down here?" asked Dr. Arden.

"Just thought I would come by and see how things were coming along for you, with your work" replied Mary Eunice.

Arden just stared at Mary Eunice for a moment, not sure where she was going with this. "Everything is fine. Why do you ask?" inquired Dr. Arden.

"Well, I am sure finding suitable subjects has been quite challenging for you" Mary Eunice said while still looking at the plants. Turning around to face Arden, "I might have a patient for you that I think you will find very suitable" said Mary Eunice.

"Oh really, and who might that be? I don't recall seeing any new patients being admitted into Briarcliff recently" replied Dr. Arden

"This patient isn't actually new, she has been with us for awhile now. I think she would be a perfect candidate as she does not have any family and…. you get two for the price of one" smiled Mary Eunice.

Mary Eunice certainly had Dr. Arden's attention now.

Jude did all she could to give this baby the best fighting chance possible. She drank milk whenever she could and made sure she ate all the vegetables and proteins she could get her hands on. She knew that she was almost though the first trimester, and was feeling better about her chances of having a successful pregnancy. She was feeling stronger too, less tired and not sick all the time. No one had said anything to her about her condition so she knew that Mother Claudia kept her word and not said anything to anyone. Her next concern was to hide her belly bump, which wasn't an issue now but soon will be. She entered the common room and sat down at the game table to join Pepper. Then she heard that accent.

"Jude, may I have a word?"

Jude looked up and there was Timothy, standing there with a briefcase in his hand. She got up from the table and walked over to him. He led her out of the common room and up the steps to the office, without saying a word. When they entered the office, Timothy closed the door and walked over to Jude.

"I don't know how much you have heard but your murder case against Frank McCann is being reviewed and the judge will be delivering his ruling soon. I feel very strongly that you will be acquitted of all charges regarding this case" said Timothy.

"Really! When do you think he will give his ruling and how soon will I be released from Briarcliff?" asked Jude.

"He should be providing his ruling any day now but there are some other matters that we need to discuss" said Timothy.

"What other matters are you referring to?" asked Jude.

"First, lets not forget what you did to me, you took my virtue Jude. You held me against my will and drugged me" said Timothy

Jude was about to answer but had a feeling that wasn't one of the "other matters" that Timothy wanted to discuss with her. She wondered in the back of her mind if he knew about her condition?

"Jude, please sit down. I have some things I need to say to you and it won't be easy for you to hear"

Feeling apprehensive Jude sat down in the chair.

"During the investigation into Frank McCain's murder, the investigators asked a lot of questions of me. Since I was trying to help them as much as I could to help your case, I provided answers to their questions to the best of my ability. Some of what I told them would be considered shocking. Do you remember when you came to me with your suspicions of Dr. Arden?"

"Which suspicions are you referring to, the ones about him being part of the Nazi Party or that he was up to no good in his lab as patients here have been missing?" replied Jude.

"Actually, both of your concerns. Dr. Arden was affiliated with the Nazi Party. He was a young man at the time and was forced into service with them. At least that's the story I was told" answered Timothy.

"You knew all along about this? Why didn't you tell me when I came to you? How could you let someone like that work here?" remarked Jude.

"This will all make more sense to you when I tell you everything. It will explain my actions, none of which I am very proud of. When I first met the doctor, he was working on the few remaining TB patients here in the infirmary. He told me he was on the cusp of a major break through, eternal life. His research was to find a way to ensure mankind could withstand a nuclear attack. I believed him, that he was close. The problem was he needed more subjects for his research. He asked to stay on staff here, at the asylum. I thought he was conducting his experiments on the TB patients. When I came for my visits, nothing seemed out of place, everyone looked fine here so I thought that he wasn't doing anything wrong until I received a call one day" replied Timothy.

Jude could not believe what she was hearing. She had no idea of the union that Timothy had formed with that monster who was downstairs. He lied to her.

"Timothy! What have you done? How could you have allowed this, this is your facility? You were put in charge to see that the patients assigned here received care. Who made you judge and jury?"

"I know it was wrong, I know that now but believe me Jude at the time it wasn't as horrible as it seems now. When I finally saw the results of his work is when I knew I had to do something about it"

Almost too scared to ask Jude said, "What were the results and who was affected?"

"Shelly was one of them. She somehow managed to escape his lab and was discovered at a nearby school lot. I received a call from a hospital administrator who asked me if I could administer last rites to a patient that was brought in. When I arrived at her room and saw her condition, I was sickened. She passed while I was there"

"What did you do then?"

I came back to Briarcliff and confronted Arden. It led to an argument and he threatened to divulge everything that has been going on around here. Jude I had no idea and I wasn't sure what he would say and do. I also thought he was close to his discoveries. Do I stop a scientist's work? I also didn't want all of our hard work here to be overshadowed by all this."

"Is that when you tried to send me away?' asked Jude

"Yes, he knew you were on to him. He saw you as a threat and I was concerned for your safety as I told you before" replied Timothy

"Why are you telling me all this now?" asked Jude

Timothy walked over to where Jude was sitting and kneeled down to her level. He took her hands in his and looked her in the eye.

"I am so sorry, for everything I did or should I say for everything I didn't do here. I am trying to make things right. Jude, I lost my way. I let my ambitions blind me to all the suffering that was going on here. That is why I worked so hard to prove your innocence and decided to come clean of what I knew. I ask you for your forgiveness"

The shock of all he had told her was still going through Jude. She felt numb. At one time she loved this man, thought he was everything. Now she felt sick. He was asking for her forgiveness but she didn't think she could give it. He betrayed her and what was worse, he abused his power. She pulled her hands back from his and could not look him in the eye.

Timothy wasn't sure how Jude was going to react. He had hoped for better than the appalled look on her face but he guessed it was expected. He knew he just handed her a ton of information, none of which made him look good. He also admitted his betrayal of her.

"I know at one time Jude, you thought I was going to lead the way. I am not a bad guy, I am still the same priest and man that you looked to before and I am going to make things right. I will make a believer out of you Jude, you will see. Just give me a chance, please" Timothy pleaded.

"What does the church say about all this?

Timothy got up from his kneeling position and looked down towards the floor.

"They are obviously very concerned on how this will be perceived. They are counting on me to make this damage go away and put a positive spin on it"

"Of course, they are only concerned with their image. What becomes of you Timothy if this becomes public?'

Timothy pulled nervously on his ear.

"I would imagine I will be reassigned someplace shall we say unpopular. Worse case I will be excommunicated but I do not think it will come to that. Jude I am coming clean. I am aware of my faults and I am now trying to do right. To err is human."

"I am not sure it will be that easy or forgivable Timothy. You were responsible for the patients here and you didn't protect them. No matter how much you say you're sorry or what you do, someone has to pay."

"And someone will, the person who committed these heinous crimes. That is where I need you to come in"

"Me? What am I supposed to do?'

"I am asking you to be the eyes and ears here. See what Dr. Arden is doing now, see if you can find any proof. He doesn't know that he is being watched but if he sees me hanging around his lab, he will become suspicious. You have great insight Jude. You sense things better than anyone."

"I will not be your spy! How dare you!"

"Jude! Look, I understand you being upset by all I have just told you but think about the good that will come from it! The more proof we have on Arden, the more likelihood he will be locked up forever!"

"I thought I was getting out of here soon. If that was true why would you ask me to do such a thing or was that a lie too?"

"No Jude, that was not a lie, it is the truth but until you are released…."

All Jude could think about was the safety of her baby. Of course Timothy had no idea she was pregnant or he would never had asked her to do such a thing or would he? He always put himself first and now he saw a way to get himself out of trouble. Still, she had to think of her child first.

"I am sorry Timothy. I cannot be a spy for you. I need to focus on keeping myself safe from Arden and Mary Eunice, until I can get out of here. That is my priority"

"I understand Jude but please think about it or at least if you notice anything... Remember we are a team."

"A team? We weren't a team when you allowed me to be locked up in here knowing all the time that I was right about certain people. We weren't a team when you had me removed from the church. Now that you're in trouble you want to be a team?"

With that Jude walked out of the office and back down to the common room. She sat on the sofa, deciding to watch some television but really wasn't interested in what was on. She kept hearing what Timothy told her over and over in her head. She wondered why he really came clean of his involvement with Arden. Was it because he wanted her help, did he want to clear his conscience, or was he about to get caught? Whatever it was it was on him now. Who even knows if what he told her was the truth. She even thought about telling him she was pregnant but she knew better. He probably would threaten to take the baby away or insist she have an abortion. This child he wasn't going to get.

"What is that smell Jude?" asked Lana

"I am making one of my favorite recipes, beef barley soup" answered Jude.

"I can't wait to taste it, should I call Karen in for dinner?" Lana asked.

"Yes, it is close enough. Have her wash up." Jude replied.

Jude heard the back screen door open and Lana out back calling Karen to come in for dinner. She called her a few times and then Lana's voice was becoming fainter as if she was further away. Jude put down her spoon and went to the back door to see what was going on.

"I can't find her, do you see her anywhere?" asked Lana

Jude's heart was beating hard. Where was she? Karen was told not to ever leave the yard and she was nowhere in sight. Jude frantically called out Karen's name but there was no response…panic set in.

"Jude, Jude, wake up!"

Jude sat up startled. Her heart was still racing and her eyes were filled with water, it all seemed so real. She rubbed her stomach, starting to feel a small bump now, of her unborn child knowing it was still safe within her womb. Her room was dark and it took her a minute for her eyes to adjust and see someone was there. To her horror, it was Sister Mary Eunice who was in her room with her.

"Who said you were having a girl?" asked Mary Eunice.


	11. Chapter 11

Jude wasn't sure what to say. She was too shocked by that remark. How did Mary Eunice know what she was dreaming about and how did she know that she was pregnant? What was she doing in her room? Could she see the baby and know the sex already?

"We have some big plans for you here Jude. You both are so lucky" said Mary Eunice.

"Plans, what are you talking about? What do you want?" replied Jude.

"We are on the breakthrough of some great things here at Briarcliff. Dr. Arden is a wonderful doctor and you should feel so honored that you have been chosen by him to participate."

"Participate in what? Just leave me alone, I am no trouble to the both of you"

"Oh come on now Jude. Don't be a party pooper." With that Mary Eunice took Jude by her arm and led her thru the doorway of her room and out into the hall. Jude pushed back, trying to stay within her room but it was a losing battle.

"Where are you taking me? You can't do this!" yelled Jude.

"We can do what we want. You were placed in our care for us to decide the best course of treatment for you and the baby" replied Mary Eunice.

Jude knew she had to get out of this situation somehow. It wasn't just her life she had to protect as they were obviously aware of her pregnancy. It was early in the morning and there were few staff members around, none of which were in sight now. Mary Eunice continued to pull Jude along the hall and down those famous stairs to Dr. Arden's lab. No matter how hard Jude tried to pull away, Mary Eunice seemed to have superior strength and was able to easily pull Jude along. Finally Jude was pushed inside the lab room and of course Dr. Arden was there waiting for her.

"Thank you Sister Eunice for bringing our patient down here. How are you feeling Jude?" asked Arden

"My health is no concern of yours Dr. Arden. Didn't the Monsignor tell you I am not to receive any more electro therapy?" replied Jude

"Yes he did but I wasn't going to perform electro therapy on you Jude. After all, we don't want to hurt the baby. By the way, who should I congratulate as the father?" Dr. Arden inquired

"Spivey" Jude said

"Interesting, Spivey has been out of Briarcliff for over 5 months now and you don't look like you are that far along in your pregnancy? Why you're hardly showing. Must be a small fetus" remarked Dr. Arden

Jude felt it best not to say anything else. She had to guard her thoughts to protect the identity of the real father for her own sake.

"What is it you need from me? I am tired and I would like to return to my room and get some rest."

"This won't take long, just a little injection and you can be on your way" Dr. Arden said as he turned towards his instruments, making sure he had everything he needed. Mary Eunice went to his side.

Jude noticed a scalpel and syringe lying on the countertop by the sink. She slowly worked her way over to it trying to act nonchalant. She took a hold of the scalpel, holding it in one of her hands as she kept her hands folded behind her back, trying her best not to think about what she was doing so Mary Eunice wouldn't know.

Dr. Arden turned back at Jude and said, "Why don't you sit down Jude?" Dr. Arden walked over to where the syringe was and picked it up, removing the cap and checking the amount of liquid in the barrel. Jude was concerned that he would notice his scalpel was missing but he didn't seem to be aware it wasn't where he last left it. Jude remained standing until Mary Eunice came over to her and forced her in the chair. Jude held the scalpel in her left hand, still behind her back, and placed her right hand on her lap. Dr. Arden walked over to her and pressed the wet cotton ball against her right bicep, threw the cotton ball away, removed the cap from the syringe, and then started to bring the needle up to her arm. Jude quickly took the scalpel and sliced Arden's hand with it. Dr. Arden dropped the syringe, grabbing his injured hand while screaming in pain and shock. Jude took this opportunity to get up and tried to run out of the room but ended up tripping over Mary Eunice's extended foot. She landed on her belly with such a force it knocked the wind out of her. She couldn't muster the strength to get up and flee as she was in too much pain.

"Where do you think you are going? See what happens when you don't behave?" remarked Mary Eunice. Oh, look now your bleeding." Jude looked down and could see blood between her legs. She ended up passing out.

When Jude woke up she was back in the infirmary. She still had pain, more like cramping in her abdomen. Afraid to look, she rubbed her stomach and could still feel her small belly bulge but she knew she was still bleeding. She started to cry.

"Jude, its okay my child" Jude looked up and saw Mother Claudia hovering over her. She was stroking Jude's head, trying to comfort her.

"Mother Claudia, I didn't know you were here" Jude said through her sniffle. "My baby, I lost my baby."

"No, no, Jude, the baby is still alive, you just need strict bed rest right now and the baby has to be monitored. When you fell, you landed on your stomach. We just have to watch for a few days" said Mother Claudia. "Jude I have to ask you this and if don't want to answer you do not have to but who is the father of the baby?"

"A patient here named Spivey" answered Jude. She couldn't tell Mother Claudia that truth. The problems it would have caused were more than Jude could handle right now.

"I am not aware of any patient here named Spivey? Well, when the Monsignor stops down to see you we can straighten all this out" said Mother Claudia.

"The Monsignor, he is coming down here to see me? Does he know that I am pregnant?" asked Jude.

"Of course he knows and he seemed quite concerned. He has to be notified when a patient becomes injured. He was told to let you rest but he insisted on speaking with you. He is only allowed a few minutes of your time as it was made clear to him you need your rest" replied Mother Claudia.

Jude laid back on her pillow, now wondering what she was going to say to Timothy. Did he have any idea the child was his? What was he going to say to her? How was she going to respond when she saw him? She needed rest, to gain her strength back and could not deal with Timothy.

"Mother Claudia, please ask the Monsignor to not come down today. I am not feeling well and just want to rest. Can he please come see me another day?" asked Jude.

"I will talk to him. Now there, you just lay back and get some rest. I will check on you tomorrow" said Mother Claudia.

Jude's nerves were so on edge, she didn't think she would be able to relax but to her surprise she was able to relax and in no time fell asleep. When she started to stir awake she heard, "Hello Jude, I didn't know when you would wake up?" She opened her eyes, and saw Timothy sitting by her bed. She guessed Mother Claudia never did to speak to him.

"How are you feeling Jude?" asked Timothy

Jude tried to sit up, but the achiness in her belly returned. Her facial expression showed her concern.

"Just lie back, Jude. You are on strict bed rest for now. You have to follow the doctor's orders. It is best for you and the baby" Timothy said.

"Doctor! Which doctor is treating me? You know about the baby?"

"Yes, I heard you were pregnant. Dr Williams is looking after you and the baby. Dr. Arden is in the hospital as you gave him quite a nasty cut. Where did you get the scalpel from and why did you attack him?"

"He was trying to inject me with something. I didn't know what it was and I couldn't let him, what it might do to our baby. Jude replied frantically.

"Our baby? What are you talking about?" Timothy's eyebrows narrowed.

"I mean my baby. I am just tired. I asked not to have any visitors as I need rest now and do not feel up to talking at them moment" said Jude.

Timothy just looked at Jude for a minute. "Of course, I understand but I have to speak with you. As you know, I have been trying to get you your release and this incident does not help your case. Arden is saying the attack was unprovoked? I need to understand what happened to explain it to the judge."

"What is going on with my release? I thought I would have heard something by now"

Timothy looked down at the floor as he leaned forward with his hands resting on his knees. "There's been a slight delay in the judge's ruling. The judge, who was presiding over your case, had a terrible accident and his cases have been reassigned. There is a backlog right now due to his absence so things are taking longer than expected. I have been following up with the clerk almost daily regarding your case"

"An accident, what happened?"

"It was kind of a freakish mishap. The story I received was he fell out of his bedroom window to his death. The police are treating it as a suicide but his wife swears he wasn't suicidal. He was making plans to see his grandchildren that weekend. Anyway, you do not need to hear all the details now. Your case will be reviewed by another judge soon and we will get you out of here. Jude, I need to ask you something else. Your pregnancy, you weren't raped in here were you?"

"No Timothy, I was not raped. Believe it or not, someone wanted to have consensual sex with me"

"I didn't mean anything bad by that Jude. I had to ask, I wanted to make sure you weren't forced"

"And if I was, what would you have done about it? Come to my rescue? I know this might be hard for you to understand but since I am no longer a nun I do not have to abstain from sex. I actually enjoy sex and I intend to go on enjoying it"

Timothy did not know what to say. Since he became a priest at an early age, sex was one thing he could not provide any expertise on. The only sex he ever knew about was the time that Jude used her hand on him in the closet. He was so mortified by his reaction that he tried to not think about it. He did know that if she admitted she was raped and could name her attacker he was going to handle it. He also didn't like hearing that she was going to go on enjoying sex. The thought of her being intimate with someone really bothered him but he wasn't sure why. He wanted to know who fathered the baby but was afraid to ask.

"Well, I'd better let you get some rest now. I will visit you again tomorrow" said Timothy as he got up from his chair.

"Please, I am not up for visitors right now. Unless you have news of my release, I would rather not be bothered" Jude said, turning her head in the opposite side of where Timothy was standing.

Timothy swallowed hard. There was a time when her face would light up when he came for his visits. Now she wanted nothing to do with him. He tried to apologize and explain his actions to her, he knew he made mistakes and he was truly sorry. Anyway, now wasn't the right time to talk to her anymore, she had been through enough already. "Good night Jude" he said as he turned and walked away.

Jude just laid there, in her bed, a single tear rolled down her cheek.


	12. Chapter 12

"Mother Claudia, may I have a word" asked Timothy

"Of course Monsignor, what can I do for you?" replied Mother Claudia

"I would like to speak to you about Jude. I know she talks to you and maybe this is confidential information but has she said anything to about who the father of the baby might be?"

"Yes, she said it was another patient there, Smitty or something like that. I don't really know who he is"

Timothy seemed to emit a sigh of relief. "Smitty? I don't know of a patient here with that name either. It just doesn't seem like something she would do. I know she is free to do as she chooses, but something just doesn't seem right. I just want to make sure she wasn't forced into anything"

"I asked her the same thing, if she was forced against her will but she told me she wasn't"

"Well, thank you Mother Claudia. Please let me know if she says anything more about the father or if she runs into any other problems with the staff or patients here."

Mother Claudia nodded and turned to walk away. Timothy went into one of the quiet rooms in Briarcliff to think. These rooms were used for prayer and to have private moments. He needed to think. Jude had mentioned that Dr. Arden was trying to inject her with something. Was he trying one his experimental cocktails on her or was he providing care as he should? After all, it wasn't unusual for a woman to receive shots especially when pregnant. If Dr. Arden was trying to inject her with one of his research drugs than he stepped over the line. He wasn't to touch Jude. There was the incident with the electroshock therapy too. Timothy knew he had to get Jude out of Briarcliff as soon as possible. It was a matter of time till something bad happened to her and she almost lost her baby. It was obvious that Dr. Arden, along with his accomplice Mary Eunice, had it in for her. Mary Eunice was another one he needed to watch. What happened to this young innocent nun? Could the evil spirit that took over Jed have overtaken Mary Eunice? That is when he noticed a change in her. Asking Jude to spy on Dr. Arden wasn't the best idea either. No wonder she wouldn't do it. This was all his fault and he needed to fix it. Then something else popped in his head. Jude told him that she couldn't let them do something to _our_ _baby_. Why would she say that? Did she just misspeak? He wished he could have remembered more about what happened that night they were together. He had brief glimpses of memories but too short for him to recollect anything.

Jude was reading her book in bed when she heard the doors to the infirmary open. Now it was Sister Mary Eunice walking towards her. Jude quickly sat up and looked around to see if there was anyone she could call for help.

"Judy, you need to be lying back down in bed. After all, we want to give this baby the best fighting chance to survive don't we?"

"You stay away from me! Just like I hurt Dr. Arden, I will hurt you too if you try to lay one hand on me or my baby. I have friends in high places and they will deal with you"

"You make me laugh Judy. Friends in high places ha! So, where are these friends now? I don't see anyone coming to your aid. You have no friends, no one likes a mean old ex nun. If you think that old dried up Mother Claudia is going to help you, you are dumber than I thought! Just make sure she doesn't get too close to any windows" Mary Eunice said with a smile.

At first Jude didn't understand what she was talking about but then she remembered the Monsignor mentioning the judge who was presiding over her case had fallen out of a window to his death. Could Mary Eunice have been responsible for that? If so she needed to speak to Mother Claudia and warn her.

"No Judy, you are going nowhere. I know all about the Monsignor's plan, trying to get you out of here but it won't work. You will never leave this place. This is your permanent home now and when the baby is born, they will take it away from you and put it in foster care. After all, we can't have patients in here raising babies. By the way, do you still fancy the Monsignor?"

Jude just looked down at her book, trying to not let this sadistic nun get the best of her.

"Of course he doesn't know that you desire him and he thinks you are mad woman and a slut. You really can't blame him Jude. He doesn't want sex with you, he wants to be Cardinal and I am going to see that he gets it. It won't be you Jude, it's going to be me. We are going to rise together in the church, all the way to Rome. He will quickly forget about you and your silly release case. No one cares that Frank is dead, no one is going to review your case."

"He will never bring you along with him. He has underestimated Dr. Arden before but he knows better now. You both are finished here" remarked Jude.

"Timothy is not you Jude. He is weak. His ambition is all he cares about and staying out of jail. As soon as he gets word of his promotion he will be gone and you will never speak to or see him again. He soon will learn of his advancement in the church. I also have another surprise for him"

"Advancement, what advancement and what surprise? You stay away from him, do you hear me?"

"So I see you still do care for him. Isn't that sweet? Well too bad it will never be reciprocated. He thinks less of you since you've been sleeping around and are pregnant"

"Is that all you like to do, try to upset and hurt me?" asked Jude.

"Don't worry Jude, I am going to go play with someone else now and give you a break but I will be back. I have some exciting plans coming up with the Monsignor as I am going to give him everything he could ever want, including my virginity. That way, he will always be loyal to me. After all, you never forget your first."

"You keep your hands off him! He doesn't want your filthy body. He is pure and he would never do anything like that, especially with you. He takes his vows seriously"

"Have a good night Jude as I plan to" With that Mary Eunice turned to walk out of the infirmary. She went to find the Monsignor.

"Well hello there Monsignor. I didn't know you were still here at Briarcliff. Is everything ok?" Mary Eunice said to Timothy as he was closing the door to the room he was in.

"Hello Sister, I was spending some quiet time alone, trying to gather my thoughts. It is getting late. Shouldn't you be turning in for the evening?"

"Yes, it is getting late but I am not feeling very tired" Mary Eunice replied while opening her habit and rubbing her neck. Her chest was showing her milky white skin and some of her cleavage. "My neck is killing me. I must have slept on it in a funny way. What I wouldn't give to have someone rub it for me, just for a minute to get the kink out. Oh, by the way, this came for you today" she said as she handed Timothy a large manila envelope. Timothy took the envelope from her.

"Thank you Sister. I best be getting on my way now" Timothy said and he started to move forward. Mary Eunice lifted her leg up placing her foot against the wall behind Timothy. Her habit fell up her leg towards her thigh, exposing her flesh, revealing the black lacy stocking's connected to a black garter and she was blocking Timothy's way.

"Do you have to go already Monsignor? I was hoping you could help me with my neck. Do you think you could rub it, just for a little bit?" Mary Eunice asked.

Timothy licked his lips nervously. What was she trying to accomplish with this behavior? "Excuse me Sister, but I am not very good at neck rubs. Good night" he said trying to move passed her raised leg.

With that Mary Eunice grabbed Timothy and pushed him back hard against the door of the room with so much force that the door opened up and both he and Mary Eunice ended up inside. By a force of its own, the door slammed shut. Staring at him, she removed her habit, appearing in only a bra, panties, stockings, and a garter. She walked seductively towards him.

Timothy kept backing up, trying to get away from her but she continued to pursue him. He had never seen a woman in only their undergarments before and as much as he was unnerved by her actions, he couldn't help but notice how sexy she looked. He kept backing away from her till he eventually ran out of room and was backed against the wall. Mary Eunice approached him and pressed her half naked body up against his body, grinding her hips into his. She kept staring into his eyes and as much as he tried to look away, he felt as if he couldn't. It was as if he was hypnotized. His eyes moved down to her breasts and back up to her lips that looked so inviting. He had to taste them. Her lips parted and he leaned forward, placing his lips upon hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her and continued to grind her body against him, feeling him harden. The intensity of their kiss deepened. His hands started to roam down to her hips. His one hand continued to slide down one of her leg as she lifted it up to try to wrap it around him, holding onto his shoulders for balance. This position allowed her the ability to rub her crotch against his hardness. Their tongues danced together and his hands reached around to grab her buttocks pulling her closer to him. Her movements were turning him on so much he couldn't help but rub back against her, hitting her pleasure center where she elicited soft moans. Her hands moved down from his shoulders, as she unbuttoned his shirt. He pulled his arms out of his sleeves letting his shirt fall to the floor and he quickly took off his undershirt. She ran her hands seductively down his bare chest until they landed on his belt buckle. She quickly undid his belt and pants. His trousers fell to the floor where he kicked off his shoes and stepped out of his pants, his lips never leaving hers. His hands left her buttocks, moving up her back to undo her bra. Their lips separated as she moved back a couple inches, staring into his eyes, as she slowly removed her bra, letting it join the other clothes on the floor. Her milky white breasts came into view and it ignited such passion in Timothy, he never felt such lust. She unclipped her stockings, rolling them off her legs to where the only

garment left was her panties. Mary Eunice moved forward to embrace Timothy, grabbing a hold of his boxers and pulling them down. She removed the one remaining attire she had left and then grabbed a hold of his erect member. Now it was Timothy who backed Mary Eunice up against the wall as he was more than ready to mount her. He lined up his cock to meet her entrance and with one quick lunge forward with a loud grunt, he was up inside her all the way. Mary's eyes closed as she felt the sheer pleasure of being filled by him. She grabbed onto his shoulders and lift up as much as she could to provide him better access to her. He quickly found his rhythm.

"Get away from her now!" yelled Jude

Timothy froze in his movements. It was if he suddenly was woken up and looked down at Mary Eunice, shocked by the position they were in. He quickly pulled out of her backing away, trying to regain his senses. Mary Eunice just stared at him with a wicked smile on her face, watching his horrified expression as he kept backing away till he was up against a chair. He slowly sat down in the chair staring out into space, as if he was in a trance.

Jude held a wooden cross in her left hand extending it towards Mary Eunice.

"Oh Jude, you watch too many movies. Don't you know that only works against vampires? Why don't you go back to your bed as you have terrible timing? We were so close to finishing too." Looking over at Timothy she said, "Lets finish what we stared Monsignor. It was so good. I am so excited and close. I want to feel you inside me again. I want to feel your release."

With that Jude dropped the cross, lunged forward grabbing Mary Eunice by her neck, pinning her up against the wall before bringing her right hand up with a syringe full of a clear liquid and injecting it into Mary Eunice's neck. Mary Eunice stood there with a wide eyed look on her face. Her expression was blank as this attack by Jude caught her totally by surprise. Her hand immediately went to the injection site as she slumped down to the floor, with her mouth and eyes still open as if she saw a ghost, her breathing becoming more and more shallow. Her breathing ceased and her body went limp. Jude turned towards Timothy, who was still sitting in the chair staring out into space. She went over to him, grabbing his face in her hands.

"Timothy, it's me Jude. It is all over now, you need to get dressed and come with me. Timothy! Do you hear me? We need to get out of here." Jude yelled.

Timothy just sat there with a blank expression on his face. Not knowing what to do, Jude ran out of the room down to the supply closet to grab a blanket. She returned back to the

room where Timothy was, locking the door. She grabbed his clothing, bringing them over to him. She pulled his undershirt over his head, lifting each arm, one at a time, placing them through the sleeves. She then repeated this with his shirt but did not button it up. She knew getting his pants on was not possible with him in a sitting position. Not knowing what else to do and fearful of getting caught she starting to shake him hard by his shoulders till finally his eyes moved over to her face. The light came back in his eyes as he looked at her with a look of confusion. He looked down as she was trying to put his trousers on, lifting them up over his legs till he finally stood up and he pulled them up around his waist. He looked over and saw the nude still form of Mary Eunice and then looked back at Jude.

"It's okay, it will be alright, it is over but we need to get out of here!" Jude said while putting the blanket over his shoulders. Timothy just stared at her, his eyes filling up with water. He grabbed a hold of Jude, holding her tightly against him, leaning his head on her shoulder. She could feel him trembling. He said, "Please tell me this is a bad dream, that this never happened. I can't, I took an oath! I can't lose the church, it's my life, it's all I have."

As anxious as Jude was to get out of that room she just held him tightly, trying to calm him down. After a few moments she lifted his head from her shoulder, holding his head in her hands, looking him in the eye. "We will get through this but we need to leave here now. Please Timothy, come with me" With that, she took a hold of his hand and led him out of the room up to her former office. She helped him to a chair, where he sat, looking down at the floor with the blanket still around him.

He suddenly looked up. "I left something, in the room, an envelope. I need to go get it"

Jude looked over at him. "Where is it?"

"I… I don't know exactly. I had it in my hand. It has to be there somewhere"

"Wait here!" With that Jude opened up the door, looking around making sure the coast was clear and quietly went back downstairs into the private room. She opened the door, praying no one was in there and was relieved nothing had been discovered yet. The room was still and Mary Eunice's body was in the same position where they left it. Jude looked all around, for the envelope. She didn't know what color or size it was. She got down on her knees and started looking on the floor and there it was. She grabbed it and

started to leave when she saw her cross and the syringe lying on the floor. She picked the items up and quickly left the room. She had to take her time climbing up the steps to the office as she still wasn't supposed to be up moving around too much.

"Here you are", she said as she handed him the envelope. Timothy took the envelope from her hands and just stared at it. Finally he opened it up and read the letter that was inside of it. He looked up at Jude. "I've just been appointed Cardinal of New York"


	13. Chapter 13

"You owe me $200 for passing Go" Jude said to Martha. "Pay up!" Martha handed the Monopoly play money to Jude, then picked up the dice, and threw them onto the board.

"Here you are Jude". Jude looked up from the board game to see Timothy standing there holding a brown bag in his hand, and Lana Winters was standing next to him.

"You remembered!" Jude said as she got up. There was no hiding her pregnancy from anyone now as she was 36 weeks into the pregnancy and there was no hiding the fact that she looked more towards the sandwich than her visit from Lana. She took the bag from Timothy and opened it up, taking out the hot pastrami sandwich. She took a bite and closed her eyes savoring the flavor. "Yum, this is so good! You have no idea how much I have been craving this. Thank you Monsignor!"

"That's not the only thing I brought you today Jude" said Timothy

"I see you brought Lana. Did you bring me desert too?" asked Jude.

Laughing, Timothy said, "No sorry, didn't think of desert but yes I brought Lana and thought this might be almost as good. Your release forms are here. You are now free to go. In fact, you can get all the hot pastrami sandwiches and desert's you want without having to wait for me to bring them for you"

Jude just stared at Timothy and the papers he held out to her. She looked at Lana and then back to Timothy. She couldn't believe it, she was finally free leave Briarcliff. She took the papers from Timothy and could see that they were actual signed release forms. She lunged forward and hugged Timothy.

"This has been a long time coming and the day has finally arrived. Lana is here to take you with her as you will need a place to stay until you can get on your feet" said Timothy. He seemed a bit uncomfortable with her hugging him.

"That's right Jude. I have an apartment in town with an extra bedroom that you are more than welcome to stay in as long as you want. It is big enough that we can fit a crib in there for when the baby comes" Lana said with a smile.

"Well, I'll let you get on your way Jude. I have a few things to do upstairs before I leave" said Timothy. He nodded and walked out of the common room, up stairs to the office.

"Lana, I don't know what to say! Are you sure this is ok? I mean it is a lot to have both of us staying with you. You know that babies cry a lot during the night."

"Of course it's ok. The Monsignor, or should I say the Cardinal and I have been planning this for a long time now. He knew you would need a place to stay once you

were released and approached me with the idea. I am so excited, and looking forward to helping out with the baby. We can share the nighttime duties so you can get some rest" replied Lana.

"Okay then, I guess we are all set. Do you think you can give me a few minutes? I need to get some things together" asked Jude.

"Of course, take your time. I will be in the foyer waiting for you. My car is right outside"

Jude walked out of the common room and looked up the stairs. It was a long climb and she knew it wouldn't be easy in her condition but she went up the stairs and into the office where Timothy was. He looked up as she opened the door and entered. He was putting some papers in his suitcase.

"I thought you would have been out of here by now, run for the doors so to speak" said Timothy. "Is everything alright?"

"You're leaving for New York? Is this the last time I will see you?" asked Jude.

Timothy stopped his packing for a moment but continued to look down at his suitcase. "Yes I am leaving for New York tonight. It probably will be the last time we see each other"

"Are you sure this is what you want?" Jude asked

"What do you mean? Of course this is what I want. I've worked my whole life for this moment. This is not been a secret, why are you asking?" answered Timothy.

Jude thought of telling him the truth, about the baby several times but she just couldn't. She often played it out in her head, telling him he was the father and he in turn would be ecstatic and spin her around, kissing her, telling her he was going to take care of her and the baby but in reality, she wasn't positive that he wouldn't try to take the baby from her or hide it somehow to avoid a scandal. Deep down she was hoping he would somehow decline the position of Cardinal and stay in New England too. They had their moments for sure, but she knew she would miss him. It seemed so sad to her that he will never see or hold the baby he fathered and what was ironic was he had sex with two women but couldn't remember either time. Even after the Mary Eunice incident, he didn't seem to remember their encounter together or maybe he didn't' want to remember it. Mary Eunice's body was found the following morning and oddly not a lot of questions were asked, at least of her. She never asked Timothy if anything was said to him about her death. She figured she would let sleeping dogs lie. At least Dr. Arden was locked up. The cut she gave him caused such nerve damage he would never be able to perform surgery again. He was found guilty on all charged counts and probably will never live to see the end of his sentence. Jude walked out of the office, not closing the door behind her. She couldn't say good bye to him and she didn't want to make a scene. She felt it was best to just let him go and move on herself. He never was hers to begin with.

Timothy looked up and realized Jude had left. She didn't even say goodbye to him. It saddened him that they were unable to repair their relationship but he couldn't really blame her. He made some poor choices and they both paid for them. She lost a lot and he was able to move up. Life was certainly unfair. Soon she would be busy with feedings and running after a toddler. Smiling to himself, he could picture it. He remembered one last thing he wanted to do before he left. He wanted to see a list of male patients named Smith or Smitty that were in Briarcliff during the time she conceived. He knew it would be a long shot but this was his last chance to look before he left for New York. Sitting down he pulled his pocket agenda out of his jacket and counted back 36 weeks. This brought him to the second week in February and there he noticed a reminder he wrote down for the Friday of that week, he was having dinner with Jude. He remembered that meal, it was delicious as always but then he heard those words, "if the Archdiocese knew what went on between us last night… What it might do to our baby…" He froze. It couldn't be, no she would have told him, wouldn't she? Yes the timing was right but surely he would have remembered having sex with her. He pushed this thought completely out of his mind and finished gathering his things. He had somewhere to be and looked around the office one more time before walking out and closing the door for the last time. Down the steps he went and out the front door. He had to stop to let a car pass, when he noticed the passenger in the car was none other than Jude. She left Briarcliff for the last time and was on her way to Lana's to start her new life.

"You have a lovely apartment here Lana. I love how you decorated it, it's so cozy and it is so conveniently located to stores" remarked Jude.

"There's also the park two blocks down from here. You can take the baby over there during nice days. Let me show you where everything is." Lana led Jude down the hall and opened up one of the doors to a bedroom. "This is going to be your room now Jude. As you can see it is large enough to fit a crib in here and the bathroom is right next door. Here's the kitchen. The cabinets and refrigerator are stocked right now but if there is anything else you would like, just write it down on the pad on the fridge door"

"Lana, I can't thank you enough for this. Somehow I am going to pay you back" Jude said.

"Why don't you unpack and freshen up a bit. I am going to start dinner. Perhaps you can show me some of your recipes?"

"I'll do better than that, I will cook for us, most nights"

Jude was able to quickly settle into Lana's apartment. They were good company to one another. Jude started to knit, thinking she would make some clothes for the baby while Lana worked on her articles. Lana would joke with Jude as the clothes she was making were feminine in nature.

"What if it's a boy Jude?"

"It's not, it's a girl, I can feel it" replied Jude.

"Have you thought about names?" asked Lana.

"Kathleen, I think I will call her Kathleen"

"When is your next doctor's appointment?" asked Lana.

"It's tomorrow at ten"

"I can drive you over?"

"I can take the bus, its fine. I like to get out and walk a bit"

"Well the offer is still there if you change your mind"

"Thank you Lana! I'll keep it in mind"

The next day Jude got off the bus and walked the block and a half to the building of the doctor's office. She felt like she was waddling as she made her way into the reception area. She had those Braxton Hicks contractions again, thinking she will never get used to them. After signing in, she sat down with a magazine, but didn't really have time to read anything as she was taken right back. Climbing up on the table with just the gown on she tried to relax. A couple minutes later the doctor walked in.

"How are we doing today Jude?" asked Doctor Johnson.

"As long as the baby is okay I will be fine"

"Well let's lie back and take a look shall we?"

Jude lied back on the table, putting her feet up in the stir-ups. The doctor brought the light over and started to feel around. "Jude, your cervix is thin. You need to make sure you are not far from home or the hospital. Since this is your first baby, it may take a few days before you go into labor but just be prepared okay?"

The reality was setting in for Jude. She was close to having this baby. As much as she already loved this child, she did want her body back as she was very uncomfortable. She had to learn to sleep on her back instead of her stomach. The doctor completed her examination and Jude got up to dress. She made her way back to the apartment and couldn't wait to sit down. She just got settled in her chair and started to doze off when she heard a knock on the door. Looking at the time she knew it wasn't Lana. Thinking it was somebody trying to sell something she ignored the knock, hoping they would just go away but whoever it was they were persistent. Finally she had enough and got up from the chair and walked over to the door to give this intruder a piece of her mind. She opened the door, ready for battle.

"Monsignor, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in New York?"


	14. Chapter 14

"May I come in?" asked Timothy, standing in the doorway to Lana's apartment.

Jude moved aside, providing Timothy entranceway into the apartment. He walked in the room looking very distinguished with his red zucchetto, black robe, red sash and light rimmed glasses. She couldn't believe that he showed up at her door, and in full dress. What was he up to and what did he want?

"Please, have a seat. Can I get you anything, a drink perhaps?" Jude asked.

"Sure, a cold drink would be nice" Timothy said while sitting down in one of the chairs. He watched her go out into the kitchen to grab him a coke out of the fridge. She brought it back out to him with a glass filled with ice.

"Thank you" he said as he took the can and glass from her. "So, how have you been feeling Jude?" asked Timothy

Jude slowly sat down on the sofa. "I am feeling good. The doctor says all is going well and the baby appears to be healthy. You know you could have called to see how I was feeling instead of coming up here" said Jude

Timothy poured the soda into the glass and brought it up to his lips to drink when he suddenly stopped. Looking over at Jude he got up and brought the glass of coke over to Jude, "Why don't you take a sip first?"

Jude smiled and took the glass of soda from him. She drank a few gulps and then handed the glass back to him.

'I am sorry for just showing up like this and I did think of calling you first, but as you see I felt like taking a long drive" Timothy said while walking back to his chair to sit down. "Jude, I have some questions to ask you and I want honest answers"

"What is it you would like to know?" Jude braced herself.

Timothy leaned forward with his arms on his knees and cleared his throat.

"Jude, why are you doing this alone? Is the father around, is he going to help you support this child?"

"That's really no concern of yours" replied Jude

"Jude, I need to know who the father is. Why is it such a secret?" asked Timothy

"Who I sleep with and what I do is my business. This pregnancy is not your concern" answered Jude.

"I hope it isn't" Timothy remarked

Jude looked squarely at him. "Why would it be?"

"I counted back to the time around when you would have conceived this child. It would have happened near the time you and I had our evening together. You remember that night don't you Jude? Perhaps you can fill me in on some of the details since I don't recall much of it till the next morning?"

"We had dinner and you had too much to drink. You became sleepy and were in no condition to drive back to the rectory, you eventually fell asleep" replied Jude.

"Is that all that happened? We didn't do anything that would have resulted in your current condition?" asked Timothy

"This is my baby, you have no responsibility here"

"Good, as long as we understand each other. Since you state that I have no responsibility here, then you wouldn't mind signing this document?" Timothy pulled some papers out of his pocket and handed them to Jude along with a pen.

"What is this?" Jude asked.

"Just a formal document that prevents you from coming after me with any type of paternity suit. You have to understand my position here Jude. I can't have you one day decide to come after me if times become rough"

Jude took the documents from Timothy, looked at him in the eye while ripping up the papers, letting the pieces fall to the floor.

"Well, if there isn't anything else you need you can go on your way now. I have some things I would like to tend to" Jude said after rising from her chair and opening the door to let Timothy out.

"I am not leaving here till I know for sure that I will never hear anything from you about this baby! Today you say I have no responsibility but who knows what you are going to say tomorrow"

"You have nothing to worry about, I won't come after you. I honestly don't want anything to do with you and really don't ever want to see you again. I have never met a more self centered, selfish, narcissistic person in my life! You need to leave now!" Jude wasn't feeling too well at that moment, figuring it was the stress of this situation and she was trying to calm herself down. She needed him to leave and get out of her life. He brought nothing but pain, disappointment, and aggravation in her life. Speaking of pain, she was having contractions again but they seemed different than the Braxton Hicks ones she had before.

"I will be happy to comply with your wish to be completely out of your life. All you needed to do was to sign… what's wrong?' Timothy asked.

Jude couldn't focus on him, the pain was too intense. She held onto the doorknob waiting for the contraction to pass but almost as soon as it ended another one started. She looked at her watch and timed the contractions, they were 30 seconds apart. She knew she needed to get to the hospital. Then she remembered she didn't have a car. She couldn't take a bus, not now.

"Is your car here" Jude asked Timothy

"It is parked out front. What's wrong Jude, your not in labor are you?" Timothy said frantically.

"I, I think so.. I am not sure but I need to get to the hospital." Jude then looked down as her dress felt wet. To her horror she was wet, her water must have broken. She looked up at Timothy who was standing there like a statue, afraid to move and not knowing what to do.

"I need you to take me to the hospital, now!"

"Jude I am not ready or prepared for this! Can't you stop it? Is there anyone I can call?"

An intense contraction hit Jude to where her knees bent and she gritted her teeth. Through breaths she said to Timothy, "It's not up to you to be ready our child is ready!"

Timothy went over to Jude and grabbed her arm. "Ok Jude, I am going to take you, my car is right out front" With that he led her out of the apartment down to the street to where he parked his car. They had to walk slowly and he thought of carrying her as he was afraid that she would deliver the baby before they made it to the hospital. He couldn't have that, he wouldn't know what to do. They finally made it to the car where he opened up the passenger door and she gingerly got in. He closed her door and ran around the car to his side and quickly jumped in. Starting the car he gunned the accelerator, inadvertently cutting out another car that was coming down the street at that time and drove off erratically.

"Who the hell do you think you are, the only one on the road!" yelled Lana out her driver's window, as she was looking for a parking spot outside her apartment. Then it hit her that the driver who just cut her off looked like Monsignor Howard but what would he be doing up here, he was in New York?

"Slow down, you will get the three of us killed!" yelled Jude. Timothy was driving like a maniac, going around cars and through red lights. He would speed up and then slam on the brakes when he came to an intersection. The motion and reckless ride was not helping Jude at all and she realized she didn't have her seat belt on. That is when she noticed that Timothy was tightly holding her one hand. She used her other hand to bring the seatbelt down and across her body and clipped it into place. She could see the blue hospital signs and knew they were close. She was also relieved that he remembered how to get to the hospital as she was in no condition to provide directions.

"Breathe Jude, try to focus on your breathing. We are almost there. You're going to be fine" Timothy said as he was pulling into the hospital parking lot.

He stopped the car by the front doors when he noticed that they were tightly holding hands.

"Jude, let go, I am going to get you a wheelchair and some help but I need my hand back for the moment."

With that she let his hand go and he hopped out of the car, running into the building. She couldn't help but laugh when she realized how this looked. He was a Cardinal in full dress driving a pregnant woman to the hospital to deliver his baby. A nurse appeared out the front doors with a wheelchair and Timothy opened up her car door. She held tightly onto his arms as she got out of the car into the wheelchair where the nurse took her inside. Timothy went back into his car where he drove off. Jude felt sad. Once again she was alone to face another daunting task.

"Jude you are doing fine. It won't be long now you are four centimeters dilated" said Dr. Johnson. "Is there anyone you want us to call?"

"Could you please call Lana Winters and tell her I am here?" replied Jude.

"Of course, but what about your escort who brought you here? Do you want him to come back to be with you?"

"Escort? He's still here?"

"Yes he is out in the waiting room. He kept insisting to be let back here with you but we need your permission first. Do you want him here? If not, we can have him escorted out of the hospital"

"Its fine, he can come back" Jude sighed.

With that the nurse who was assisting Dr. Johnson left the room to go fetch Timothy. Jude just hoped he would behave and not start anything stupid like signing those papers or questioning the paternity of the baby. She didn't know how he would react during the delivery and hoped he knew what he was getting himself into. The door to the delivery room opened and in walked Timothy who went right over to Jude. He grabbed her hand, looking into her eyes. Jude noticed he wasn't wearing his robe and hat anymore.

"Jude is this my child? You need to tell me now"

"Of course it's your child. I wasn't with anyone else. That night, we were together. I know you don't remember but it was magical"

"Why didn't you tell me? After all this time Jude you owed me that!"

"Isn't it obvious, why I didn't tell you? I was told a long time ago that I could not have children. Like I said it was a magical night as all I ever wanted was to have a child. This is a miracle baby. If I told you, what would you have me do, get rid of it?"

Timothy knew she was right. He would have insisted she give up the baby somehow. He couldn't have an illegitimate child. At that moment he wasn't sure how he was going to handle this but he knew better than to bring that up at the moment. Dr. Johnson chimed in which switched his focus.

"Okay Jude, it's time to push" said Dr. Johnson

Jude pushed with everything she had. She was exhausted and the pain was intense but she knew it would all be worth it when she was done. After pushing for several seconds, she was told to rest and laid back against the pillow. She felt a cool rag on her forehead as Timothy was there, right by her side, trying to comfort her. She couldn't believe he was actually there with her during the delivery. When it was time for her to push again, he helped her sit up and kept encouraging her, telling her she was doing a great job.

"Okay Jude, rest for a bit and then we will start again" Dr. Johnson said.

'So now that you know, I suppose you will want visiting time?" asked Jude.

Timothy looked down at the floor and Jude braced herself.

"Jude you know I cannot be a father to this baby. Unfortunately my job does not allow it"

As much as it hurt for her to hear it, she wasn't shocked by this. After all, it really wasn't consensual that he was with her and he wasn't positive she was pregnant with his child till just a few minutes ago. She knew he was always all about himself and moving up in the Church. What did she expect him to do, leave the Church and become a father/husband to her? She knew all along that she was going to have to do this alone. Once again Dr. Johnson's voice brought her back to the reality of the situation.

"Here we go Jude. When I tell you to push I want you to give it all you got understand?"

Jude nodded.

"Push, keep pushing….."

Jude pushed with everything she had. The pain was still intense and she held onto Timothy's hand so tightly she knew it probably hurt him. It was small in comparison to what she was going through. As much as she didn't want to admit it to herself, she was actually glad he was there. She really didn't want to do this alone and he was helpful. She needed his assistance when he held her up to push and he also gave her ice chips to suck on which she so needed.

"Again Jude, push!"

Jude pushed hanging onto to Timothy's shirt when she felt him pull away. Where was he going, she needed to hang onto something? Was he leaving? She saw him, move away, down to stand behind and to the left of Dr. Johnson. His eyes were looking down between her legs, his face was in awe and then she felt relief.

"It's a boy!" Timothy said as he looked up at her. His eyes were filled with tears.

He followed the nurse who put the baby boy in a towel and took him over to the warming unit. She asked Timothy if he wanted to cut the umbilical cord and he didn't hesitate. The nurse yelled out to Dr. Johnson that the babies Apgar score was 8, so all was good. With that she wrapped the baby up in a blanket and handed him to Timothy who then walked up to Jude's side.

"Say hello to our son Jude"


	15. Chapter 15

"Oh Jude, he is so cute, I can't stand it!" beamed Lana

"He is special. I can't stop looking at him myself. I can't believe this is the little bugger who was kicking me and giving me heartburn all the time. It was all so worth it"

Lana walked over to the crib and put baby TJ down in it. He didn't fuss, just continued to sleep. They both walked out of the room, quietly closing the door, and went into the living room where both ladies sat down.

"You must be tired? You can go lay down if you would like? I will get the baby when he wakes up" offered Lana.

"I actually feel fine right now. Timothy is coming by in a bit for a few hours tonight so I can get some rest. Thank you for allowing him to stay here." replied Jude.

"Well he is just a baby, its not like he can get his own place yet" Lana said with a grin.

"You know what I mean, the big Timothy not the little one. With all his things down in New York he would have had to stay at a hotel. He really wasn't planning on being up here at all"

"Jude, I know it's none of my business but have you two discussed how you are going to handle raising this baby? I know you intended to do this on your own but now that we know who the father is… I mean what are _his_ intentions?" asked Lana.

"We've talked a bit about it or more like danced around the subject. I wanted to give him some time since this was all sprung on him at once" answered Jude.

"You told me he kind of figured this out, that was why he came up here to see you so he really shouldn't have been too surprised" replied Lana.

"He had his suspicions but he wasn't sure. I know it doesn't make a lot of sense, but he really had no recollection of that night. We will talk again soon. I just don't want to push too hard. I know it is a lot on me but this is also a big change for him too. Right now, he is on cloud 9 with the birth of his son."

The doorbell rang and Jude walked over to the door to let Timothy in. He bought flowers and chocolates with him. He handed the flowers to Lana and gave her a peck on her cheek. "These are for you to brighten the place and for thanking you for your hospitality" He then walked over to Jude where he handed her the chocolates, also giving her a peck on the cheek as well as a hug. "How is our son doing today?" asked Timothy.

"He's fine, down for a nap. Thanks for the chocolates but I am trying to get my figure back" said Jude.

"Yeah and thanks for the flowers, they are lovely" Lana said while putting the flowers in a vase. "I have to run to the store, do you need anything Jude?"

"No we are good, thanks for asking"

Lana grabbed her car keys and purse, and out the door she went.

There was a moment of awkward silence between Jude and Timothy till Jude finally asked Timothy to sit down and relax a bit before the baby woke up.

"Tim, we need to talk about us. I know you are still digesting everything but I would rather it be sooner than later. What are you planning on doing now that you have a son?"

Timothy appeared nervous. He knew they were going to have this conversation someday but he was hoping it wouldn't be this soon. The truth was he didn't have an answer for her. This was all new to him where Jude had nine months to prepare her life for a child where he only had a few days. Jude could sense his anxiety but she's wanted to have this conversation for awhile now and here was their chance. The baby was asleep and Lana was out.

"Actually Jude I will be heading back down to New York in the morning. I need to talk to my counsel and ask for guidance. I really am not sure how this is all going to work out. I don't think the Church has had to deal with fatherhood too often before and not sure how they will want to handle the press" said Timothy

"The press? What are you talking about? You're not actually considering remaining a Cardinal are you?"

Timothy cleared his throat. "Jude, I can't just walk away, I worked my whole life towards this. I love this child, don't get me wrong but I had no say regarding the conception of this child"

Jude did not know what to say. She really shouldn't have been surprised by what he told her. She also could not believe that the Archdiocese would allow him to remain a Cardinal, knowing he fathered a child, whether he was aware or not. She could see his point, that he didn't have a say in having relations with her or how to handle the pregnancy but she still had a tiny glimmer of hope he would come around and decide to give them a chance. She was glad he admitted to loving his son but he never mentioned her.

"I see" was all Jude could say. She wanted him to leave. She wanted to be alone. Timothy could sense her hurt and got up from his chair to put his arms around her but she pulled away. "I am going to lie down now. I will hear him cry when he wakes up, after all we share a room so you don't need to stay. Good luck tomorrow" With that she went into her bedroom closed and locked the door. Not knowing what else to do, Timothy let himself out of the apartment, without having the chance to even say goodbye to his son.

"Are you sure you want to do this. I mean TJ isn't sleeping through the night yet and we are doing fine here?" Lana said.

"I need to do this Lana. I need to earn income of my own. We can't live off of you for the rest of our lives. I know it will be hard but I will get through it. Are you sure you are okay watching him when I work my shifts?' asked Jude.

"Yes we will be fine. Just be careful and try not to overdo it. Waiting tables is not easy work" remarked Lana.

"I know but there aren't too many jobs out there for ex-nuns and I can't go back to singing again. I was a waitress when I was a young woman and I was actually quite good at it. I did really well with my tips. It also will be good to get out among other adults." Jude responded.

"Does Timothy know you are doing this?" asked Lana

"It's not really up to him and I need to do what I need to do. After all, he is doing what he wants"

"Are you considering moving down to New York?"

"Absolutely not! If he wants to be closer to his son he needs to move up here. This is where we belong. He doesn't even know if they are going to let him remain as Cardinal or if they are going to reassign him some place else. I need to head out now for work, don't want to be late" With that Jude got up, kissed TJ goodbye and left to work at the diner.

When Jude arrived at work she shadowed one of the more experienced waitresses. She quickly learned the menu and memorized the specials. It wasn't long till she got the hang of things to where they let her wait on two tables on her own. It was a really good first shift and to make things more interesting, there was a handsome man at the end of the counter that seemed to be keeping his eye on her, which did wonders for her ego. Finally her shift ended and she ran to the bus stop. The bus will be coming soon and she didn't want to miss it. She was dying to see her son as this was the longest she has been away from him since his birth. She got on the bus and it felt so good to sit down. Her stop came up and she got off, practically running the block and a half up to the apartment where she already had her key out. When she got in the apartment, Lana was giving TJ his bottle. Jude walked over without changing out of her uniform and took TJ from Lana to finish his feeding. She burped him and he was ready for bed. She held him for a few minutes, and then placed him in his crib for the night. She changed out of her uniform and then went out to talk to Lana to tell her all about her first shift. It wasn't long till she too went to bed and quickly fell asleep. This was the first time in a long time she felt good about things.

Jude arrived at work the next day and this time they allowed her to wait on four tables by herself. She knew they had confidence in her and couldn't believe how quickly she was able to get back into the swing of things. She brought over the beverages to the family at one of her tables when she noticed someone was sitting at one of her other tables. She went over to take his order when she realized it was the same handsome man she saw sitting at the counter the other day.

"Good evening. I see you already have a menu, would you like to hear our specials?" Jude asked.

"Hi there, I'll just have some coffee and a piece of chocolate cake?" said the man.

"Coming right up" Jude took the menu from him, went to pour him a cup of coffee, and get him a slice of cake. She made sure to cut him a large piece and put it on a plate.

"Here you are" Jude said as she put down his coffee and cake. She started to walk away when she heard, "Excuse me Ms." She turned back towards the man to see what else he wanted.

"I know this is kind of bold of me but I was wondering if maybe one night you would have dinner with me?"

Jude wasn't sure how to react. Did he really just ask her out? She didn't even know this man. He could sense her uneasiness.

"We could have dinner here, if you are more comfortable, maybe when you are off your shift or just have dessert? I know this seems abrupt but did you ever get a feeling from seeing someone that you would like to get to know them?" asked this man.

"I don't even know your name?" replied Jude.

"Stanley. My name is Stanley Wilson and you are Judith I see?' he said looking at her name tag

"I am sorry Stanley but when I get off from work I need to go right home. I have a son that I have to get home to"

"Oh I see. Okay well perhaps one time when you aren't working? Here is my card. If you change your mind, just let me know. You seem like a nice lady and I would like to buy you a meal and get to know you a bit"

Jude looked at his card and put it in her pocket. "Thank you Stanley. Enjoy your cake"

Jude had to admit this did wonders for her self-esteem. She wasn't sure she would go out with him but she certainly would consider it. She can't remember the last time a man had shown interest in her. She couldn't wait to get home and tell Lana.


	16. Chapter 16

"So what do you do for a living Stanley?" asked Jude

"I am an insurance salesman. On the road a lot, that's why I eat out all the time and I'm just not much of a cook. How long have you been a waitress?" asked Stanley.

"Well I used to be a waitress a long time ago but I recently returned back into the workforce so I have only been doing this for a few weeks now. I actually missed the interaction I used to have with my customers"

Stanley was curious as to what Judith did before, when she was out of the workforce but didn't want to pry too hard. After all it was their first date and he didn't want it to be their last one. Stanley took another bite of his pie and washed it down with a sip of his coffee.

"How is your pie?" Stanley asked Jude

"It's good. They make all their baked goods here onsite. How is yours?" Jude asked.

"Its great, just like the company" smiled Stanley.

Jude looked down. She wasn't used to receiving compliments. She liked this man but she was nervous if he would start asking questions about her past. Should she tell him she was a nun and would that start a bunch of other questions? She also was hoping he wouldn't ask anything about the father of her son, another sticky situation. They finished their desert and coffee. Stanley got up to pay the bill. When he returned to their table he held out Jude's coat and helped her put it on.

"How about I give you a ride home? It's cold out there" Stanley offered.

"Oh, you don't have to. I am used to taking the bus. It is really okay" replied Jude.

"I don't mind. Come on, it will give us a few more minutes together." Said Stanley

"Well, if you really don't mind. It is cold out there" answered Jude.

With that Stanley held open the front door of the diner and opened up the passenger door to his car as she got in.

"Where to?" asked Stanley

"So, how was it?" asked Lana.

"He is very nice" replied Jude

"Are you going to see him again?" questioned Lana.

"I guess so. Like I said, we only had desert together. He asked what I was doing this Sunday but I don't know yet. I really want to relax and be with TJ. I miss him so much when I am away from him."

"Oh Jude, I almost forgot. Timothy called and asked if you could call him back right away. He sounded upset"

"What now?" Jude got up and went to the phone. She dialed Timothy's number and was about to hang up when she finally heard a frantic "hello".

"Tim, its Jude. I just got your message. What's wrong? No you can't come up here…Timothy this isn't my place. Lana is already allowing our son and me to stay here. What is wrong, what happened? Can't it wait? Why can't you just tell me over the phone? I have work tomorrow! Yes I have a job now. Lana watches him when I am work don't worry about it. I waitress and there is nothing wrong with it. I am going to go now. Call me back when you calm down and are ready to talk on the phone." With that Jude hung up the phone.

"I don't mean to pry but what was all that about?" asked Lana

"I don't know, something happened and he wanted to come up to talk to me about it"

"Jude you can tell me to stay out of your business but you may want to remind him the only thing you two have in common is your son and if he isn't willing to take on the responsibility of having a child then there is nothing left for him to talk to you about" Lana remarked.

"I know your right Lana but I never know if what he wants to talk to me about TJ. He has been sending me money to help with expenses and I know he does miss his son. I am not going to worry about it now. I am tired and ready for bed. Good night Lana." With that Jude went into her bedroom and to bed. She ended up lying awake for a bit, wondering what was wrong and what bad news was he going to spring on her now.

"Where were you?" Timothy frantically asked Lana

"I took TJ out for some air to the park. I wasn't expecting you. Does Jude know you are here?" asked Lana

"Where is Jude? I have been waiting out here on the steps for an hour now. Is she at work?' Timothy inquired.

"Yes she is at work. Like I said we weren't expecting you. Maybe you should call ahead next time" responded Lana.

"I told Jude I wanted to speak to her. Where does she work?"

Lana thought for a second. Jude was to have dinner with Stanley tonight and she didn't think it would be fair for Timothy to show up at the diner and make her miss her date. After all, it's not like he told her he was coming up and she had plans.

"It doesn't matter where she works, she is working now Timothy and she can't speak to you" replied Lana.

"Well then I will wait for her to finish her shift and bring her home. I know she doesn't have a car so I can give her a ride home" said Timothy.

"She is working late tonight, a double shift I believe so she won't be done till late. Why don't you come back tomorrow?" said Lana.

"Double shift? Is she crazy? It's bad enough she is working at all but to take on extra shifts. Lana please tell me where she works" asked Timothy

Not knowing what else to say to him Lana said, "why don't you just stay here with your son? When she gets home she gets home."

Timothy helped Lana get the stroller into the apartment and then picked up his son. He was talking to him, and making TJ laugh. As much as Lana hated to admit it, it was really cute seeing them together. He was actually good with the baby. Timothy gave TJ his bath and final bottle, than put him down for the night. Looking at his watch, he said to Lana, "It's 9:30, when is she getting home? Does she usually work this late and take the bus home at this hour?'

"She gets home when she gets home. She wasn't expecting you so let it be" said Lana.

Timothy sat down on the sofa, trying to relax so he would be calm when Jude finally got home. He started to doze off when he heard laughter out the front door. He sat up on the sofa and Lana came out of her room to greet Jude. She wasn't sure what her reaction was going to be like when she saw Timothy there. The front door to the apartment opened up and Jude backed in as she was facing Stanley. He had his arms around her and they were kissing. Obviously Jude was not expecting company or Lana to still be up.

"It's about time you got home!" Timothy blurted out.

Jude quickly turned around with a surprised look on her face. She saw Timothy and then looked at Lana.

"Timothy! What are you doing here?" asked Jude.

"I told you on the phone that I needed to speak to you" Timothy said all the while looking at Stanley. "And you are?" he asked Stanley.

"Stanley, Stanley Wilson" he said while extending his hand out to Timothy to shake.

Timothy just stared at him and eventually shook Stanley's hand. "I'm Timothy" was all he said.

"Well, I guess I better get going now Jude. Thanks for everything tonight, I had a good time" Stanley said as he was walking towards the door. "I'll call you tomorrow. Good night" he said as he gave Jude a kiss on her cheek. He walked out and Jude closed the door behind him.

"Who was that?" asked Timothy.

"He told you his name, it is Stanley. He's my friend" Jude responded.

"Friend? Are you dating him?" asked Timothy in shock

"That is none of your business. What is it you had to come up here to talk to me about?"

"I am going to bed. Jude call me if you need me" Lana said as she went into her bedroom and closed the door.

"Jude what is going on with you?"

"What is going on with me? Who are you to come up here and barge in? I am entitled to have a life of my own!" remarked Jude.

"I needed to speak with you. It concerns our son. I spoke to my counsel and I was given ultimatums. Jude, they want me to deny TJ. They said I cannot be a Cardinal if I have a child, especially an illegitimate one. I don't know what I am going to do" Timothy said as he slumped down in a chair.

"You said ultimatums. What other options do you have?" asked Jude

Timothy looked up at Jude and then back down again. "I could be reassigned to another location and delegated as a priest or…."

"Or what?" asked Jude

"I can press charges against you for rape" replied Timothy.

"What! You're not serious are you?" screamed Jude.

"They are very serious. If I press charges against you it shows that I was forced against my will into fathering a child. If I do not do that, they will reassign me across the country as a priest in a remote area. I will not be able to see my son. The only other option would be to resign"

"So, are going to do?" asked Jude standing with her arms crossed.

"I don't know. I can't move across country, not without my son. I just can't"

"Are you going to press charges against me?"

"No, I won't do that. You are the mother of our son even though…"

"Don't you go there! You have done plenty of thing wrong yourself and if anyone should go to jail!"

"Jude, I am lost. I don't know what to do. I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I left the Church. I never planned being anything else but a priest. I can't believe they are making me choose my son or my vocation"

"Then why don't you move across the country where you can still be a priest and serve your Church? It seems to be what is most important to you"

"What about my son? I will not be able to provide for him. It's not like the priesthood offers a family health plan. I want to be part of his life"

"I work now, I will provide for him. We will be fine"

"You and Sammy?"

His name is Stanley and it is too soon to tell if he will be around for awhile or not. I just met him"

"Where did you meet him at?"

"At work. He came into the diner to eat one night. He is very nice and I like him"

Timothy just looked at her. He knew at one time she was infatuated with him but now there was someone else that caught her attention. It bothered him, a lot.

"I don't know this Stanley and I don't want him around my son do you understand?"

"You just said you don't know him so how can you say you don't want him around your son? I like Stanley, he is nice to me and I am going to continue to see him and since TJ is with me now, he will see him too. You have no say here. I am tired now so I would appreciate it if you would leave. I would like to go to bed as your son will be up in a few hours for his feeding"

"I'll feed him when he gets up. Let me get him in the morning, you can sleep in" said Timothy.

"Tim, I am not sure it is okay that you spend the night here. It isn't my apartment and I am trying to have my own life here" replied Jude.

'What would you have me do? I want to see my son when he wakes up, where am I to go for the night, it is late?" questioned Timothy.

"Ok, you can stay here on the couch. TJ sleeps in my room so when he wakes up. I will bring him out to you. Please do your best to keep him quiet so he doesn't wake Lana. Good night" Jude said as she walked away from Timothy into her bedroom and closed the door.

Timothy watched her walk away. Usually when he stayed the night in the past, she would make up the sofa for him and talk to him a bit. Sometimes they would play with the baby together or just talk about him. She used to want to hang out with him but now it seemed he was a nuisance to her. What changed? Then it occurred to him, she found someone else in her life.


End file.
